A Tale of Two
by CyberDestroyer
Summary: Mankind is destined to make the same mistakes over and over again, what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, it's the same old tale, it's a boring one, but even the most simple of tales can be entertaining, if they have the right characters, so, let's start a new one, shall we? A courier and a wanderer walk into a bar, nothing good comes next.
1. Chapter 1: The wanderer

**Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a big thank you for giving my story a chance, hope you'll like it.**

**Edit: Just wanna let you all know that I received your advice, and I have made some adjustments to this chapter, I fixed the grammar, changed the format of the character dialog, and fixed some parts that bother me a lot, it's still mostly the same story, I just changed some minor details (mostly in the flashback), hope is less of a mess now.**

* * *

Before the world known as Remnant existed, the void was not empty, no, two powerful entities coexisted in it, a force of light and life, and a force of darkness and death, these entities always struggle to maintain the balance between them, and after centuries of creation and destruction, the gods finally found a way to make a truce.

They created mankind, gave them their gifts, the world, and let them be, but after spending time with their creations, they became disappointed with them and left the planet, they promised to not interfere with their decisions and maintain the balance.

And they did, until now, now these forces are clashing in a way that could make the mountains fall, the seas to dry off and the stars to explode, such power could not be understood by a mere mortal, however, if a mortal could understand what was at stake, if their brains were to process what was happening, then they would most likely see a family feud.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Why is this my fault again?"

"Your creatures are the ones disrupting the balance!"

"No! They are not! They are being commanded by that mortal woman"

"No mortal should ever have that much destructive power! This is your doing brother! So, tell me, what are you going to do about it?!"

* * *

**This was supposed to be an easy mission.**

That is the thought that roams the mind of a young man in his mid-twenties while walking through the streets of a shady town establish on what use to be the outskirts of Texas. With the sun on his back (as well as a hunting rifle), a sword on his hip, and an exhausted demeanor, he approaches his destination, a pub on the east side of the town. A greyish colored two-story building in the corner of the street, the sign on the front reads; Dante's, and graffiti over it was; See you in hell.

**Strangely fitting. **

The bar also works as a hotel and sometimes as a brothel (when the girls didn't make enough money in the week).

*Sight*** let's get this over with**.

He was tired, not in the physical way mind you that, no, more like he was REALLY stressed and annoyed, but more on that later.

In the streets a couple of kids played, merchants sell their goods, others eat and drink, and some houses began to light up, in all honesty, the place wasn't so bad, it wasn't one of the biggest or wealthiest settlements, but it does hold commercial importance, all caravans have to pass thru here to reach Legion territory.

**Don't know much about them except that they are a massive force of slavers, who, for some reason, took their ideals and** **wardrobe from the Roman Empire****, or at least that's what I've heard. **

Nevertheless, you must be careful of what you say and do around here, someone is always listening, someone is always watching. The moment he steps inside the building, he sees some eyes turning his way, but they quickly dismiss him as they continue to talk, drink, and gamble.

"Hey, Snake! Was damn time you show up!"

_''Snake''_ turns his head to see a big man of dark skin, bald but with a prominent beard, who was all the way across this _''fine''_ establishment next to the bar. The owner of the pub/Inn stood almost seven feet tall and had been waiting for his client, with two really big duffle bags that were on the floor in front of him. Making his way across drunks and gamblers, this wanderer manages to reach his destination with no one trying to pick a fight or puke on him, so far so good.

"Evening Robert."

"You knew, your time was up at six, I was about to see if you had something good to pay me with."

"What happened to customer courtesy?" Asks Snake as he leans down to check his bags.

"That one runs out once your times up."

"Heh, fair enough," Said with a light chuckle.

"What took you so long, anyway? That radio station ain't that far from town."

"Well, the pieces you provide me with weren't exactly world-class."

"Pfff you get what you paid for, you don't like it? Then tell our so-call major to stop being such a cheap bastard."

As a vault dweller, it had always amused him how in some settlements, a resident of said community could have equal or even more influence than the actual figures of authority. Since his arrival at this town, the Wanderer has been doing whatever job he could get, and today he was instructed by the major to fix the radio station that was on a cliff outside the town.

They use that thing to broadcast their position to any caravanned close by, or since the place is on higher ground give an alert if raiders came, but the only one with the parts needed to fix the antenna of the station was Mr. Robert, the Innkeeper, and he never gives anything cheap. After ensuring that all his belongings were in the bags, he proceeds to pay the big man for his last day at the Inn.

"That will be, one hundred caps, you know what Snake? I was getting used to having you around, you're a bit nosy, but at least you paid with actual money."

**The pot, calling the kettle black. **Thought the young man as he sees how the owner gives the money to the bartender who, in turn, puts it in a little safe behind the bar.

"So, your last day on this dumb, huh, why leaving so soon?" Asks the man as he leans back against the wall and crosses his arms.

**As I was saying.**

"Meh, not a real reason." He responded with a dull and monotonous voice as he raises his shoulders. "I don't like being held in one place for too long, just that."

"You mercenary types always on the move."

"Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, just curious, I know that the place ain't exactly the best, but …"

**Don't fall for his trap. **

"But what?"

**Dammit.**

"Well, you have tried too damn hard to prove yourself useful around here, so it was natural for one to think you would stay."

"I just needed the caps, and I like to do a good job, after all, they are paying me for it." Said the Wanderer, not showing any change in his voice. "Plus, a gun for hire has a better shot with the caravans and the road rather than just a small town."

"That's debatable."

**He's right. **

"Well, I'm not an entrepreneur like yourself Robert, but the road does give you a lot more of freedom."

"Well, if money is the reason why don't you work for me then? I'll always have a spot for people who can get the job done."

"As I said, don't like being held to one place."

"In the run?"

"And you say that I'm noisy."

The bar owner just responded with a small smirk to his remark. "Need anything else before you head out?"

"Well, now that you ask, dinner and a drink would be nice"

"The usual?"

"The usual"

"And for the drink?"

"Rum and Nuka please" The Innkeeper smirks once again (in a more mockingly way) and motions the bartender who starts preparing the drink. He wasn't, by all means, a drinker (he didn't like the taste) but needed something to relax and an excuse to stay a while longer.

"Where are you going? I could use some muscle, have a packet that needs to be taken care of" Said the Innkeeper.

"Sorry, not a mailman"

"Didn't you say that you needed the money?"

"Let's just say that people who work for you don't usually end well."

"Only the ones who snitch me."

"Still, no thanks, plus, I don't have any place in mind, I'm just going to … wander around."

"Humph yeah, of course, you are"

**What does that even mean?**

"Anyway, here is your girly drink." Said the big man as the bartender passes the drink to its customer. "Your gonna have to wait for your food, so take a seat and make yourself comfortable Snake."

The young man picks up his bags, takes his drink and turns around to go and find a suitable table, not before shouting. "Stop calling me Snake!"

"Give me a real name and then we talk!"

The kid from Vault 101, well, not much of a 'kid' anymore, finds himself an unoccupied table near the entrance, with a heavy sigh he sits down on the table and starts taking sips of his drink. The vault dweller was wearing his full set of wanderer's leather armor under his tunnel snake jacket, a pair of military boots, and a pair of biker goggles over his short brown hair.

He has a lot on his mind lately, first of was that he needed to be better at concealing his identity, after so many years of roaming the wastes he has won a big bounty on his head for several reasons and even in places so far from the east coast his name was well known, that's the reason he usually uses an alias; _"The Lone Wanderer"_, but after a while, that name got him in even more trouble than the real one.

So nowadays he tries not to give any name at all if he can have it his way, and when he needs to provide one (like for example, let's say renting a room) he made something up, and yet again he failed miserably, the Innkeeper and some others saw easily through his bullshit, as the big man called it, and started referring to him as Snake.

He is relatively good at talking to people, was able to convince then to aid him or change their minds, but he wasn't capable of lying. This is just one of the many thoughts that roams the mind of 101, the most recent one being; **w****hat the heck was wrong with Rum & Nuka?** But there is one that resonates louder than the others.

**This was supposed to be an easy mission.**

But then again nothing is easy when the Enclave is involved, it has been six and a half years since the battle at Adamas Air Force Base, and somehow, small pockets of what just to be old government have managed to survive, even to go off radar in this last couple of years.

The lone Wanderer didn't even know he was following their lead at the start of this journey, this all started three weeks ago while exploring the Midwest Commonweal, more specific, the state of Minnesota. He was chasing some rumors that told the story of the single skyscraper that stood alone on the once-great city of Minneapolis, according to the rumors big giants of blue skin with the ability to disappear in midair, lived inside the old building.

The mission was simple then, go, scout the area and get back with the findings to the ship, but the moment he got there, well, things got an interesting turn.

* * *

_We see a man in a full set of black combat armor and helmet with a balaclava type mask over his face, walking through the ruins of a long-forgotten city. Laser rifle in hand and sniper rifle on his back, he checks his surroundings to be sure he is alone, his destination is only a couple of miles ahead and could be seen since entering the ruins._

__Now, you may be asking yourself, why was the living legend of DC following rumors that sounded like tales from an old pre-war comicbook? Well, to be honest, the explanation was rather dumb, he was hoping to find an old US government bunker, oh! And how do you know about the existents of such bunker? Well … I heard a … rumor … okay, look, I know that following a rumor to find another rumor is redundant and stupid but hear me out. __

__This was an old rumor from the Brotherhood of steel, who also had some old records from the US military to support it, these records were heavily encrypted and somewhat damaged so it took the scribes nearly fifty years to get something good out of them, the extracted files refer to a storage bunker for your average military equipment; lasers, plasma, power armor and the like, but what really pique the interest off the higher-ups were some items classified as experimental, however, the little information they got didn't exactly tell them the location of this bunker, and so they weren't able to do much. __

__They sent patrols to try and find any other records that mentioned something about these pre-war marvels, but they didn't find any, even Lions had sent search patrols when he first came to DC with little to no results. __

_So, after so many years of what appeared to be a wild-goose chase, every brother and sister tough of this little treasure like one would think of a fairy tale. Maybe the bunker was destroyed, maybe the government had relocated the equipment, hell! Maybe the items had already been discovered! A lot of gear and weapons they and other factions use were classified as government only or experimental by old world standards. _

_Stopping his tracks for a moment, he aims the rifle to his left side, where rubble and dust were starting to rise from the ground, then a white pale paw emerges, and afterward, a similar-looking head with large incisors came to view._

_"Hey, little buddy, you startled me for a second." Said the Wanderer as he lowers his weapon and gets closer to the big rodent. "Your type usually goes for packs of three to four, are you lost?"_

_The mole rat only growls in response._

_"Relax, I'm not here for you."Said the wastelander while getting close enough to bend his knee in front of the little mole rattie and extend an arm to it. _

_This causes the rat to flinch back, but then it takes a step forward, catching the scent of this stranger, and well, it was nice, subsequently, the man starts petting it._

_"There you go."_

_He likes animals, and after passing some time with a certain mad scientist/shop owner, he discovered a newfound admiration for mole rats. Now, back to the topic at hand, why did he though that this place could hide the pre-war wonders that neither Lyons nor the rest of the brotherhood were able to find? It was mostly a hunch and a lack of options, according to reports in the citadel they never been able to send men this far north of the country, always had something better to do than follow every drug indulging tale they came across, but apparently, he didn't! __hehehe …__ *sigh* _**_I need to re-think my priorities._**

_They have already exhausted the options on other sides of the country, so its more likely to find the bunker or a clue of its whereabouts here. **If I don't find anything, I'll probably go to other places like the commonwealth or maybe Hawaii.**_

_Nonetheless, that skyscraper remains unique, not only for its rumors but because of the state of the 'city' itself, utterly destroyed, and yes, I know that's the norm for everything in the world, but when he said 'destroyed' what he meant was obliterated. _

__That skyscraper was the ONLY THING that remains of Minneapolis, what used to be a great metropolis was now reduced to a pile of rubble, the land was made up of craters, and its only inhabitants were radroaches and mole rats. This place had been hit harder than DC, the vault dweller was thankful that time had helped mitigate the radiation, otherwise, he would have needed more than just a couple of radaways, and rad-x for this trip.__

_**Which beg the question, why was Minneapolis a bigger target than the own capital during the war?**__ On his search for answers noting came up, there are no records that mention something of THAT importance in the city, no bunker, no military base, no important personal of the government, nothing._

_The more he knew, the more intriguing this place became, the old government had a missile defense system in case the bombs drop (although it couldn't do much against the end of the world) and was the reason important and strategic locations remain mostly intact. So the only way for this building to be standing had something to do with it being really high on the priority list, and that just makes it more complicated. What secrets did it hide? As a member … sorry, as a former member of the brotherhood, it was in his duty to retrieve any technologies that could aid or harm mankind._

_*__grrr__*__ he hears the 'little' mammal growl, however, before 101 could see what happen, he hears it._

_*__BANG, BANG__*_

_The so familiar sound of gunfire came to his ears, not long after explosions could seem emerging from inside the building, bringing down big chunks of concrete and steel with it. Taking this as his lead, he started rushing through the racket, while taking cover until reaching the higher ground where he could put his sniper to good use, but the moment he draws the weapon everything got quiet like his soul presence was able to put an end to all the fighting. _

_Knowing that wasn't the case, he uses the sniper to try and get a clear picture of the situation… and there was nothing, more accurate there wasn't anybody, after a battle like the one he just heard, he would surely be able to see something. The winners replenishing ammo, taking care of any injuries, packing things up and moving along before something bigger came, but there was nothing, not even the dead bodies of the enemy. _

__And it wasn't like they could just hide from his sight, the explosions from earlier had sent any remaining windows from the lowers floors away, the structure seems too unstable to climb it, and although there was always the possibility of a bomb shelter underneath the building, if he was right in his assumptions, then that shelter would be just as impenetrable as a vault.__

_Reevaluating the area with the scope, he didn't want to go inside with no intel on the situation, all of a sudden a pair of double doors_ _busted open on the east side of the building and two big crates, oh! No, three, three big crates came flouting out… _**_I was sure a had taken my rad-x._**

__Tempted to check on his Pip-Boy to see if he had hallucinations caused by radiation poisoning, he dismisses the idea the moment he glances over said machine and sees the little yellow light indicating movement near him.__

_Seeing through his weapon once again, he got a glance of a slight shimmer beneath the containers, one he knew very well. Switching his scope from normal view to infrared, the Wanderer saw what appear to be the forms of at less a dozen heavily arm super mutants, being unable to identify the weapons he guesses flame throwers and miniguns by the shapes and the way they carry them. _

_Gathering the new information with the strange rumors of blue giants, the former sentinel quickly came to a conclusion._

_**Nightkin **_

_An old foe of the brotherhood _

_**'**__**they serve the master of the mutants, deathly warriors who use the night as there anonymity, one of the few cases where these abominations had shown intelligence, extremely paranoid and violent' I think it was something like **__**that.**_

_Recalling some old entry in the brotherhood database, he had learned about their existence while conducting his research on the super mutants and yet he had never encountered them. _

_After the defeat of 'the master' and his army on the west coast, the brotherhood, and other factions hunted down any remaining forces of this 'unity', as high ranking officers the Nightkin where the first to go, but they prove their efficiently on battle, with great training in weapons, hand to hand combat and stealth they were the perfect killers, going in and out without a sound, even without the help of stealth boys (something really impressive considering their size) however, they had a major flaw; their dependence on stealth boys._

_Prolonged use of the equipment had damaged their sanity, caused schizophrenia, dementia, and even dissociative identity disorder, after all, stealth boys and any other variant were still being tested at the time they were made, the side effects take a long time to manifest in humans according to old medical reports, although they appear really fast on mutants._

__So yes, they were dangerous, however, their mental state makes them unorganized, and delusional, he knew a couple of strategies and battle plans to take them out ... yet again this was a recon mission, and there was no real reason to fight.__

_Waiting until all the mutants came out of the building, the Wanderer kept a close eye on their movements, as it appeared they were getting ready to leave. _

**_Huh, so this isn't a permanent base, I'll better wait._**

**_**_The crates have the RobCo logo on them, _**_**__*humm*__**_**_ if they take something too important, I'll have to track them. _**_**

__Focusing on each heat signature, his haze ended up on the one in front of the group.__

**_**_ He seems to be the one giving orders,_****_why was it carrying a Brahmin skull? and was that one carrying a… oh no. _**_**

_Switching his scope to its original view, the scene of someone in power armor being drag on the floor appeared before him, the last Nightkin to get out the building drag a poor bastard by his left arm like a ragdoll. The armor was a mess; the helmet lacked the lens, parts of the right leg were missing, the right arm appear to be crushed, it had dents all over, and the left leg was bent in a way it shouldn't be. _

__But what drew more his attention was the type of armor this person was wearing. Hellfire power armor, Enclave armor._ _

_**_**_What were THEY doing here? _**_**_

____Looking around for any other movements on the building or the surrounding area, and also checking the radar on his Pip-Boy, just in case, he didn't detect anything else._ ___

____**_Well, if the Nightkin are the ones walking out of here, it goes without saying that they are no longer a threat._**____

_After dragging the corpse of the poor soldier a while longer, the mutant just tosses it to the side near some rocks as it leaves the zone with the rest of the group, they seemed to be in a hurry. _

**_Knowing their mental state, they probably don't like to be wide in the open._**

__Giving them a few more seconds to move along before approaching the old structure, the Nightkin leave the area. His objectives now were the following: get inside the building, know what had occurred here, and investigate that Enclave trooper for clues (optional). Crouching and carefully moving through the rubble to get closer to the east entrance without alerting anybody of his presence, the vault boy started to analyze the landscape.__

**_The state of the terrain indicates that the battle began outside, there are_** **_burn marks and bullet holes on the walls, by the size of those probably 5mm caliber, mutants doing. _**

_Getting next to one of the walls, he put his hand over it. _

**_Although, these aren't fresh. _**

__Walking to the east entrance, where the Nightkin had come from, he encounters a long corridor that held half-broken and half-burned barricades, alongside some busted out terminals and other broken electronics. __

**_**_Hmm, I doubt that the equipment belongs to the mutants._**_**

___T______urning his head to the sides, he saw more burn marks on the walls, although they were different from the ones outside.___

**_**_**_Some of these were made by plasma, and _**_**_**___*sniff*___**_**_**_ is that gas? _**_**_**

___Turning around to face the fallen soldier, he makes his way to him, wanting to see if the trooper had something useful before entering.___

**_Let's recap, the rumors of the ''blue giants'' have been circulating on nearby settlements for quite a while now, but the evidence suggests that the Enclave was the one using this place as a base of operations or a hideout at least. There are signs of multiple battles fought within these walls, using the same type of weaponry, so I guess that the Enclave sought out the site first and when they finally set in, the Nightkin came and overrun them, with no other option they fall back to a ''safe'' place inside. _**

_Our soldier quickly gives a second glance to the building and the used to be barricades. _

**_However, being siege is never an ideal situation._**

_The body was facing the ground, and the more closely he got, the more beat up it appeared to be. They burn him so bad that some parts of the armor got melted, the fusion core was leaking, and it was a miracle it haven't exploded, although it did let the armor without energy, at this rate it will not be long before the waste got thru the metal and into the man's back, the left leg was bent to the side of the body, next to the hip, the other leg (the most exposed part of the armor) was completely cooked, the meat was red, and it was palpitating, chunks of metal now merged with the skin, and that was probably the state of grand part of the body. This was a mess, so you can imagine the Wanderer's surprise when the corpse started making noises._

_"aaa ... aa... agh...__"_

_**No way**_

_"__agh ... agh__"_

_**No friking way**_

_"__aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!__"_

_**HOW?!**_

_Running to the side of the power armor, the Wanderer uses all his strength to turn it around ignoring the heat that radiated, now facing its mask and seeing its bloodshot eyes thru the broken lens he quickly reaches out for the helmet *Klunk Klunk shhh* hearing the mechanism unhooking the mask from the rest of the armor he takes it off revealing a beat up men with blonde greasy short hair (or what was left of it), his left eye had been pop out of his skull, he could barely keep the other one open, the flames had managed to burn his forehead and the left side of his face. _

_**And now he was spitting up blood, **_**_Dammit_**_. _

_Lifting him by the torso (Strength check: Pass) and placing his upper body against a big rock so that he wouldn't drown on his blood, the Wanderer tried to help him. _

__"_Hey, hey, hey! Can you hear me?" Said our wastelander while giving him light slaps. "Soldier, can you hear me?!"_

_"Wh ... wh-what?"_

_"Can you reach the manual override on the left side of your suit?"_

_"I ...I... wha...who..." Said the Enclave trooper, not entirely sure of what was happening._

_"I said. Can. You. Reach. The manual override?"_

_"Wh-who are… agh!"_

_Seeing that the man wasn't capable of helping himself, the Wanderer tried to access the manual emergency opening mechanism on the lower back of the suit, with his right hand he reached out and opened a compartment. _

**_T_****_he handle should be around here… gotcha! _**

_101 pulls the handle on the armor, however, the mechanism doesn't open. _

**_What?_**

_Pulling it once again only got him the same results. _

**_Why isn't it working?!_**

_"__h...he...he-help__" P__leaded the man._

**_This thing was design, so no matter how bad the external pieces and other systems got, the user could be able to get out… unless._**

_"__The armor's frame is damage__" S__tated 101, for someone to make this much damage to one of the more advanced sets of power armor. __"__What happen to you?__" __inquired while facing the man._

_There was little that could be done to aid him, his injuries were too severe and too many. Multiple fractures, second and third-degree burns, most likely internal hemorrhages, and to top it off, he was trap in a bunch of worthless metal, he didn't have much time left, his armor had become his grave._

_The young ex-sentinel stares right into his eyes, you could learn a lot about a man's true nature in his last moments, he saw resentment, hate, regret, but mostly pain and fear. He doesn't know this man, in other times, he may just have gone for the kill the moment he saw him move, the Enclave was at war with him, and he was at war with everything they represent._

_"__Ple...please__"_

_He was going to die, the Wanderer knew it, and he knew it, was about to be returned to the land, to wastes. _

**_After all ''for dust you are and to dust, you will return''._**

_That's just how things are, didn't make it less frightening._

_*Pip, Pip, Pip, Pip* _

_The noise came from his Pip-Boy, indicating that a transmission was coming in, one of the many new features he had been implemented on it. _

_"One oh one here, over"._

_"__Hey! dude, the ship detected a lot of movement leaving your place, soooo umm, how are you doing buddy? Still in one piece?__"__ Said a taunting voice over the transmission._

_"__Butch, where's Charon?__"_

_"__Sucking my di... Hey! Give me ... *Bzzzz* Sorry for that, the brat is being a nuisance__"__ Responded an annoyed and raspy voice. __"__Everything is all right down there?__"_

_"__Everything is fine, there was a battle between Enclave forces and super mutants, what you detected were the mutants leaving, over__"_

_"__Do you need support? Any survivors?__"_

_"__Negative, one man, but he isn't going to make it, prepare yourselves and the mother ship for extraction and recollection, over__"_

_"__Got it, over__"_

_*sigh* __"__Hey, soldier, can you hear me?__" A__sks the Wanderer while taking out a pointy object from one of his back pockets._

_He didn't even know his name, but knew enough to understand what was in front of him, in front of the Wanderer lay a soldier, a fighter, a survivor. A trooper who follows orders and won't stop at nothing to complete them, who will scourge the land and humanity if needed, and all that for his ideals. _

_**Ideals that I despise. **_

_Rising his hand with the object, he inserts it on the man's neck and then pushes the plunger of the syringe, injecting him with a strong dose of med-x. _

**_That should be enough._**_ Thought the Wanderer as he extracts the needle._

_"Soldier, you have fulfilled your duty, have fought the good fight… and now it's time to rest" In front of the Wanderer lay a man that is just like him. He was going to die, but his finals moments didn't need to be filled by pain and fear, there was already too much of that in the world. There was still a hint of bad emotions in his eyes, it was reasonable, although it could be seen that the chem was doing its work as the pain slowly dissipated from his face._

_"__t… thanks__"_

_Everything that should be said and done was done, now it was time to give this man some peace before passing away, but at that moment, the trooper decided to do one final act on this plane of existence, something that if asked, why? Why did he do it? He would be able to respond, something he shouldn't have done._

_"__Ta-tag … my tag__"_

_"Huh?" Understanding what he meant, our vault boy got closer to him, and carefully snatch his dog tags from his neck. There were two holotags that, like the rest of him, were burned and a bit melted, although, the letters were still distinguishable, but what caught his attention was what appeared to be a… holo-card? It was a card that looked somewhat like the tags and other holo-type technologies, it seems like a type of passcard of some sort, but it was intact without any damage caused by the fire._

_"__Find ... the Do-Doctor__"_

_"__Doctor?__"__ Asks 101, but time was up, and the burned man just stared into the distance._

_"__Long live … the enclave__"__ Said exhaling his last breath._

_"__Soldier? __"__Checking his neck for pulse, the Wanderer confirmed his death._

_*sigh* __Putting a hand over the man's face, he closed his eyes and recited a few last words. _

_"If you are out there, and if you can hear me, please give this man some closure in the next life."_

_After inspecting the body for anything else that may be useful, our Wanderer stood up and continued his way to the building, with the last words of the remnant echoing on his mind._

_"__Long live the wasteland__"_

* * *

"Sir?"

"Uh? Oh!" Dragging him out of his memories was the voice of one of the waitresses, a blue eyes woman with blonde hair caught up in a ponytail. She was wearing a torn out and worn out blue short-sleeved blouse that revealed a bit too much of her cleavage, with a mini skirt of the same color, ripped black fishnet tights, and a pair of black boots, she was bringing him his food.

**I think her name was Sheary, Shary? Shaery? Shaery, it was Shaery**.

"Thank you, Miss Shaery"

"It's Sharyl, actually"

"Oh, sorry about that"

"Don't sweat it, hon"_ S_aid while putting the plate on the table and giving him a soft smile. "You're one of the few who leave us good tips. Need anything else sugar?"

"I'm okay"_ S_aid while returning the smile. "Thank you very much miss …"

"Sharyl" Remarket the woman.

"_... _Sharyl"

This last makes her giggle.

"Sharyl!" Shouted Robert to the young girl.

"What?!"

"Move your sweet ass and get back to work! You have more tables to attend!"

With a loud huff, Sharyl complies and gets over to the bar to take more orders.

**This guy could give Moriarty a run for his money**.

Looking down on the table was his food, nothing special, just a brahmin steak with a side of mashed potatoes.

**Thanks for the meal**.

Okay so, to sum up, what happened after his encounter with the burned man, he was right, there is an old US government bunker under that skyscraper, and the Enclave was using it as a base of operations, with a dozen men stationed there.

**Well, a dozen and a half, I didn't find the torso of that last one. **

And the pre-war marvels? Just to be there as well, _''Just to''_ being the keywords on that sentence. You see, after having to seek protection inside the bunker the Enclave shut the vault-type door behind them, being in a fortified bunker with enough weapons and armor to supply a small guerrilla group would have been all they needed to save themselves, but they didn't have access to any, at that moment in time, they were only able to open the main entrance of the bunker.

The layout of the complex was rather small, there were only other three rooms, each one was supposed to hold different types of equipment; armor, weapons and experimental respectably, but they were all stashed behind incredibly difficult locked doors. So they were trapped with almost no food, low on ammo, and no backup. They tried to get the weapons, their only hope of salvation, and after I don't know how much time they ended up opening the experimental wing.

**A lot of interesting gadgets and** **schematics but nothing that could help them.**

They may have made it out if not for the mutants, somehow the Nightkin managed to redirect what was left of the building's gas from the gas valves to the air ducts, and then they proceed to blow them all to kingdom come. This act caused a chain of explosions detonating all around the building, and it was a miracle that the explosions didn't reach them as well, even so, they did achieve their goal. The explosions inside the bunker wipe out half of the Enclave forces (the ones that didn't use power armor), left the other half damaged and confused, and activated the safety protocols of the bunker opening the main door, after that the mutants gun them down quite easily, torture our burned man for questions and lastly took some creates with stealth boys and leave.

The explosions had also opened the other areas of the bunker, and destroyed all valuable equipment as well! Everything was gone except for some stuff on the experimental wing, (like the stealth boys) since the system was hacked to open the room it didn't respond to the safety protocols correctly and remained closed, there were some minor explosions inside that busted out the terminals but let the room mostly intact. He was lucky that one of the Enclave soldiers had managed to saved some records and schematics from the experimental wing on the external memory of his armor.

**I download them to my Pip-Boy with any other files I could gather from the facility, and that brings us to the next topic, why was the Enclave there? And who is _''the Doctor''_?**

Those answers came in the form of personal logs from the fallen remnants. After Project purity succeeded and the Brotherhood kicked out the Enclave from the Capital, the remaining troops succumbed to chaos. With no chain of command and the BoS hunting them, a lot of them deserted or turn in one another, this particular platoon was at first going for the later until someone contacted them, a Doctor Patrician Stanley.

**For the Enclave to be so willing to trust an outsider showed how desperate they were. **

She promised them a place to hide, to re-group, supplies, and a way to give them back the power they lost, if, and only if they followed her orders. With no other options, the remnants accepted and receive their first order, to find and secure the _''holo card''_.

Apparently, the holo card was more than just some sort of pass card, is a sophisticated, high-density data storage device created before the war by the US government and different high-tech corporations. The Enclave searched tirelessly until they found it in the ruins of Minneapolis, unfortunately, their achievement didn't last long.

According to encrypted records and schematics from the bunker, there are two holo cards, both have important data and computer systems needed to active one of the most ridiculous and incredible pieces of machinery made by mankind, the Garden Of All Creation (GOAC).

**I'm not kidding when I say that the schematics of this machinery makes me want to both look at it in awe, and to punch me in the face for how ridiculous it is.**

He didn't even know the full length of this thing capabilities, even so from what he could gather it had two major functions (he didn't know one of the two, though), the first one being the ability to modify matter at a subatomic level without any type of restrainment. You could transform a rock into a grenade, and it worked on grant scale too, say, you want to transform a town into a pool of water? Done. This… thing stretched the boundaries of science and fiction to a whole new level.

**At first, I thought this was just a bunch of wacky nonsense … until I saw two things on those records. One was the amount of fundings that went into its development (Both from the government and corporations) and the support of renowned scientists like Doctor Braun (the mad man responsible for the GECK). **

The number of people involved in the project was just absurd, General Atomics, Poseidon Energy, Vault-Tec, the list went on.

**Kind of strange that RobCo wasn't on it, now that I think about it.**

**And two was that the machine was a hybrid between human Tec and alien Tec… I'm not making this up, that's literally what the schematics said, and I know how dangerous alien Tec is, I command a mother ship! **

He's been studying the ship for five years now, and he doesn't even know how half of the things worked, he can also confirm that the files didn't lie, what they describe to be alien Tec is the same tec he has on the ship, the GOAC may not even work, but he couldn't take any chances.

The logs also said to meet on this settlement once the job was done, so he did, took some of his best equipment and arrived to the town a week sooner to try and gather Intel on the Doctor while the rest of his crew followed the Nightkin, having a bunch of schizophrenic mutants with the ability to turn invisible running around uncheck is a recipe for trouble. The Doctor must know this place well enough for it to be a meeting point, but nothing has come up, she probably used a false name or alias.

**Maybe the whole Patrician Stanley was a false name, but that was the only thing I have, this whole mission has let me mentally exhausted.**

"agh!" Shouted a man at the other side of the place while holding his right hand. "This bitch broke my wrist!"

**Who?**

Walking away from the man was Sharyl, who is staring daggers to the guy.

"Learn how to read!" Shouted back Robert from his spot on the bar while pointing to one of the many signs on the establishment, this one read: Don't touch if the girls don't want.

**Okay at least he doesn't force the girls, I'll give him that. **

Right now the Wanderer could just wait for the Doctor to show up, he plans to pass as one of the Enclave remnants and get her to spill out what she knew, he has everything prepare and had make plans for any contingency, and yet his gut tells him something was off.

Looking down on his chest were the burned man tags and the holo card hanging from his neck, for some reason 101 wasn't able to suppress this estrange feeling that run thru his whole body, like the one he got the first time he left the vault, when he left the brotherhood and the capitol. Thinking back to the list of people involved in the creation of the GOAC was a research center that he had never hear of, and just thinking of the name make him shiver, a place called Big MT.

* * *

**Thank you very much for reading my story, is the first fic I have ever made, so please help me be a better writer, leave a review, tell me if it is good, bad, horrible and anything in between, and if you like what I made I'll publish chapter two, that one will be from the Couriers point of view. English is not my first language, so I'm sorry if I messed up with the grammar (I'm using Word and Grammary to help me with it), I'm also taking an English class at my college, so, I'll improve. Thank you again and goodbye.**


	2. Chapter 2: The courier

**Hello guys, long time no see, sorry for the delay I wanted to publish the second chapter early this January, but I had college and wanted to fix chapter one. Thanks for the reviews and PM's, here's chapter two, is a bit shorter than the first one, hope you like it, and enjoy.**

* * *

In the void of creation, the place that surrounds everything that has ever existed, every world, every galaxy, and every universe, in it, two entities are trying to get into an arrangement that can solve their problems and correct the balance, that is of course if they could stop arguing.

"Alright," Said the older brother. "We are not getting anywhere, listen, I respect the care you have for your creatures, but we are giving Remnant one last chance, and the only way for OUR creations to have that chance is if the balance gets fixed, and that is not going to be possible if SHE keeps on fortifying the Grimm."

"Brother, they do not deserve our help, let the old wizard handle it, plus, we are always helping them, in one way or another, and yet, they have not learned a thing."

The younger brother was tired of humanity and wanted his brother to comprehend it.

"Listen, if you really want to help them, this is not the way, I have seen humans fight until their last breath, fearless of death, destroying all their enemies, and you know how they manage to do that? It was not the hope of salvation or the need to protect others, no, they did it because they had nothing else to lose, so maybe instead of being givers, we should be takers."

* * *

**I. Need. A. Drink.**

Thought a young man in his late twenties while removing a hatchet from the skull of one of his attackers and throwing it into the chest of a second one, who hit the ground with a loud thud, and join the other three bodies that lay on the floor.

**Scratch that, I need two drinks, and then some more.**

The man in question was wearing some heavily patched grey jeans, a pair of black boots, a grey T-shirt beneath a ballistic vest, a brown duster, and to top it off a cattleman cowboy hat that partially hid a nasty scar on his forehead. Before the man's feet lay four bodies, all clad in red garments and the symbol of a golden bull adorning their armors.

The bodies present multiple wounds, from bruises caused by punches to stab wounds and broken necks.

"a…agh." One of the attackers is still alive and is crawling on the ground, trying to reach the flare gun of his fallen comrade.

**No! You're not!**

Picking up a spear from another body, he impales the Roman wanna be, before he could get the gun and call for reinforcements.

*Panting* "You guys… *panting*… are starting to piss me off."

"Damn you, pro…profligate." Said the attacker, exhaling his last breath.

The wastelander pulls out the spear from the man's back, picks up the flare gun, and stashes it in his coat with the rest of his weapons. He takes a moment to relax and breathe after his encounter with the group of Legion scouts.

*Panting* "Well… *sigh*… fuck."

The Courier has been dodging Legion patrols and outposts during his whole journey in Legion territory (not an easy feat, by the way, when you're public enemy number one), and just as he passes the border THESE GUYS got the drop on him. Now he needs to get rid of the evidence in a way that the Legion won't suspect a thing and send more troops to search for the culprit.

**I hope you assholes are burning in hell. **

Going to the man with the hatchet stuck on his chest, he pulls it out and tosses it to the side. The man known as Courier Six takes his hat off, revealing his black greasy hair, and scratches his head thinking what to do next.

**Okay, so there's a riverbank not that far from here, the lakelurks could eat them, hmm no, the river is too close to an outpost, too risky. **

He checks the map on his golden Pip-Boy, searching for other options. Right now he has a bit of a tight schedule and needs to be moving ASAP if he wants to get to his destination in time.

**There's a cliff to the south, Nah, too much of a detour. Come on! I don't have time for this, there's has to be something.**

Just as he's checking the map, a yellow light pops up from the machine, indicating movement near him, he takes out a silenced .22 pistol and a combat knife from his coat and turns around to face his new adversary. What he encounters is a pack of coyotes approaching him cautiously, four adults and two puppies (one with black fur, and one with grey fur).

*grow* the adults started growling while the pups stayed behind them.

"Hey! Hey! Relax, everything is okay, I just…" However, the pack just ignores him and went straight to feast on the dead bodies. "…meant to bring you food."

**I guess that solves it. **

It's a good thing his always been an animal friend. One of the little ones, the one with grey fur, tried to munch on the hand of one of the Legionaries but was promptly pushed to the side by the other pup, who had already call dibs on the arm, not wanting to lose to his brother, he head-butts him (an odd action for a coyote, but okay), and in response, his brother bites him, the greyish one lets out a squeal and runs way until he trips over the Courier's feet. After regaining his composure, the pup looks up at Six, growls at him and bites his left boot.

"You need to learn to pick your fights, buddy."

Not long after, their mother sees them; she goes to pick up her odd child with her mouth, sits him next to the other one, and growls at both, like telling them "You! Learn how to share! And you! Don't make a fool of yourself!"

"Ha, kids, am I right?" Said the wastelander as he turns around to get his duffle bag and backpack. "Anyway, enjoy the meal."

The Courier still has a long trip ahead of him, after giving his map one last check, he looks up at the skies, the sun will set in a couple of hours, if there is no other setback he'll reach the meeting point just in time.

**Almost there ***Sigh*** let's go. **

And with a last heavy sigh, the fabled Courier of the Mojave continued his journey, a journey that has made him cross a country, and what it is even more outstanding his enemy's territories, the Legion's territory.

This little trip of almost three weeks has had its fair share of ups and downs, the biggest down (in the man's opinion) was running out of alcohol mid-trip. What? You think that's not a priority? Try going sober with half of the shit I have been through in these last couple of years, hell! In this month! And then we talk.

These recent years have been ... complicated, to say the least. It has been two and a half years since the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the NCR (with some help) kicked the ass of Caesar's Legion and took control over Vegas and the Mojave.

Looking back on the war, picking a side was a hard choice to make, and after a much-needed debate between him and his companions (which include a punch to the face from Cass and a dangerous look from Boone for bringing up the Legion), he chose the republic.

The NCR has a lot of flaws; they are imperialists, corrupt, they are stretching themselves far too thin and had caused a lot of problems not only for their people but for the people of Nevada as well (the Powder Gangers, Bitter Springs, etc.), their whole system is flawed.

**After all, "If you want to see the fate of democracies, look out the windows".**

And yet, in spite of all that, they were the best option. Six had (and has) a lot of problems with them and the other players that tried to win over the Mojave. For a long time he wanted the independence of Vegas, no gods, no masters, but the more he planned and tried to make that dream a reality, the more he knew that it wasn't going to work.

Build a nation is no easy feat, carve out a frontier, built towns, protect the roads, run supplies, etc. Even with an army of robots, the Courier wouldn't be able to protect all of the Mojave from all the other factions. The NCR is inefficient, and despite that, they are the reason the Legion didn't raise hell on the land, they are the reason bandits and raiders (like the vipers and jackals) were at bay, their presence, and their presence alone, is the reason why the Brotherhood wasn't running around confiscating technology, you remove the republic from the Mojave, and it becomes a completely different place (plus, he never wanted to be the leader of a nation).

That didn't mean he gave them the place in a silver plate, no, if they wanted the Mojave and its people, they had to earn it. The republic had to play by our rules, with the help of some good people from the NCR, like ambassador Croker, we manage to get a representative of the Mojave in the Senate in less than a year, with Keely on the head of research, we make enough food for the whole nation, and in order for that food to reach the rest of the republic safely, they had to send more patrols to guard the roads.

As for the Courier, he helped in what he could, taking any jobs available and if possible go to other lands near the Mojave, his hunger for exploration (and a way to avoid paperwork) is never gone (that's not necessarily a good thing tho, *cof, cof* Sierra Madre *cof, cof*). He also helped integrating new technology from Big Mountain into the wasteland.

The Big Mt, the Think Tanks, that's how this trip started, on one of his many visits to the complex, somehow a bunch of mercenaries found the facility while Six was away and got in, that was a problem for everybody, especially for the poor bastards.

* * *

_"Let me get this straight, you caught them…" Said Six with as much patience as he could muster "… and then you lobotomized them."_

_"YES" answered Doctor Klein, the leader of the Think Tanks._

_"… Why?"_

_"WHAT TYPE OF QUESTION IS THAT?" Demanded the scientist. "THAT'S THE STANDARD PROCEDURE WHEN DEALING WITH INTRUDERS, OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"_

_"No, trust me, I haven't."_

_"THEN WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?"_

_"Doctor Klein, if I may," Said the only female in the room. "Maybe the teddy bear is upset because we didn't follow his orders of not abducting and lobotomized more outsiders."_

_One of the many rules the Courier had to come up with, so that; a) They wouldn't bring more attention to the place, and b) they wouldn't destroy the world._

_"I KNOW WHAT WE DID, DALA, WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS, WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?"_

_"*Yeah, I'm going to have to give the reason to Klein here.*" Said a third voice. "*We didn't abduct them, they got in, we needed to defend ourselves*"_

_" [###.!.###] ...[###.!&**!.###] !"_

_"*Exactly, thank you 8- wait, what did you just called me?*"_

_"[###.!&**!.###] "_

_"O, 8, ENOUGH, I AM TRYING TO COMPREHEND WHY OUR ASSOCIATE IS CLASSIFYING THIS ACTION AS A BAD THING TO DO"_

_"*Really?! Really? Are you guys really going to start calling me "O" again?*"_

_**Leaving the moral aside. **_

_"I don't have a problem with you lobotomizing the intruders, my problem is that you didn't interrogate them before doing it"_

_"*You all are just going to ignore me, aren't you?*"_

_"-Oh, but we DID-." Said the final melodramatic voice of Dr. Borous. "-With the first and second intruder, WE REMOVE THE SPINE, and uh … well, they didn't talk, so with the third and fourth intruder, WE REMOVE THE HEARTH, and they also didn't talk.-"_

_"*I'm taking that as a yes.*"_

_**Deep breaths, remember deep breaths. **_

_A group of a dozen mercenaries found Big Mountain, that's not so surprising or alarming (there's a reason why stories of the Big Empty exist in the wasteland), what it is, is the fact that they eluded the defenses and entered the facility (because when that shit happens we get ghost infested casinos and the threat of a second nuclear holocaust)._

_Fortunately for us, they were caught before anything else happened, five of them were killed during the fight, and the other seven were...interrogated._

_"-After they refused to talk, we decided that they were COMMUNIST SPIES, it was the only logical explanation, and so as good Americans, WE PROCEEDED TO LOBOTOMIZE THEM.-"_

_**Deep breaths.**_

_"Why didn't you guys called me when this happened?" inquired the Courier as he ran his hand over his face, rubbing his eyes._

_"WE DID."_

_"What?"_

_"WE SENT A MESSAGE TO YOUR PIP-BOY, EXACTLY, 13 DAYS, 6 HOURS, 10 MINUTES AND 1 SECOND AGO." _

_"You did?" He quickly goes to the data section on his Pip-Boy (Misc.) and into the Messages. "Fuck, you did."_

_Exactly, 13 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes and 1 second ago, our wastelander was fighting a group of mobsters at New Reno, but that's a story for another time._

_"Okey, that's on me, do you at least have their things?"_

_"YES, WE CONFISCATED THEIR EQUIPMENT AND GADGETS." As Klein informed Six, a floating table approaches them. "HERE THEY ARE."_

_In the table where some sets of Reinforced Combat armor, clothes, guns of high caliber, high-tech plasma weaponry, explosives, combat knives, bags with different types of ammo, some metal boxes, and some strange gadgets._

_"Is this all?" the weapons are really good, but it is not enough to break into one of the most protected and secret compounds of the old world._

_"Not quite." Responded Dala. "A lot of their gear got destroyed during the fight, for example, five sets of power armor."_

_**Power armor? The Brotherhood?**_

_"What type of power armor?"_

_"SOME OLD RUSTED T-45 MODELS."_

_"Did they have any marks or symbols on them?"_

_"*Not on their armors, but they carried pieces of clothing that had a human face with an X on its forehead.*" Responded Doctor O- sorry, Doctor Zero. "*Oh, and also, the ones we manage to catch had tattoos on their actual foreheads.*"_

_As Zero explained, Six grabbed one of the metal boxes, that were on the table, it was a small box that fitted perfectly in the palm of his hand, It reminded him of the ring cases he and Veronica had found in a fancy shop they raided while trying to find the "perfect dress" as the lady put it._

_ "What type of tattoo- oh."_

_Opening the box reveals a piece of skin with a black tattoo of a negative O (O-). Closing the box, he puts it back on the table and takes another one, opening reveals another piece of skin, but this one has a different tattoo (an AB-)._

_(__Perception check: Pass.)_

_"The tattoos are blood types."_

_**Intruders with high caliber weaponry, and armor. If all their members are required to bear the same tattoo, then they are probably part of a cult or military group, maybe both.**_

_He picks up a grey bandana from the table, the thing has the symbol of a human face, with an X on its forehead. _

_**I have no idea who these guys are.**_

_"How far did they manage to get?"_

_"IN HERE."_

_"I meant inside Big Mountain."_

_"IN HERE."_

_"Come again?"_

_"THEY GOT INSIDE THE THINK TANK." _

_"..."_

_**Okay, who the hell are these guys?!**_

_One thing is to get into the perimeter of the site, and another is to get into the main building of the place, that, by the way, is full of traps._

_"How?!"_

_"According to the video fed, they used a sort of pulse emitter to disrupt the barrier and penetrate our defenses. Then they snuck quickly and quietly thru the land, right beneath our two delicate and soft orifices (noses), if you forgive the vulgarity," Dala explained as she gets...excited, by the retelling._

_"-UNFORTUNATE FOR THEM, hahaha, one of our Protectrons saw them, ENGAGING IN A FIGHT WITH THE ALMIGHTY FORCE OF BIG MOUNTAIN! Hahaha, they were no match for us.-"_

_"*Oh yeah, then after that came the Vertibird.*"_

_"Vertibird?"_

_"[###.!&**!.###] ... [###.!.###] "_

_"I know what's a Vertibird, 8!"_

_He has seen some of those aircraft in action, the NCR has a couple of those stationed in different outposts, Kimball has one for his personal use, and the Remnants have one as well, but other than that they are quite rare._

_ "Then what happen?"_

_"THEY TRIED TO RETRIEVE THEIR COMRADES AND RUN AWAY, BUT BEFORE THEY COULD DO THAT, WE USE AN ARTILLERY STRIKE TO BRING DOWN THE VERTIBIRD."_

_"Where did it land?"_

_"In the X-7b 'Boom Town' target zone," informed Dala. "Any survivors of the crash were killed by Borous's dogs."_

_"-Oh, and my dear Gabe led the charge! He's such a good boy-"_

_"Did you get something from the ship?"_

_"NOTHING, ANY PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT IT MAY HAVE HAD, WAS DESTROYED DURING THE CRASH."_

_"Wonderful."_

_"YES INDEED, AFTER THEIR COMRADES WERE OBLITERATED, THE REST OF THE INTRUDERS RAN TOWARDS THE THING TANK, WE THOUGHT THEY HAD REACHED A DEAD-END, AND SO, WE WERE GOING TO LET THE ROBO-SCORPIONS KILL THEM, HOWEVER, THEY OPEN THE DOORS AND GOT IN THE BUILDING."_

_"Here we captured and interrogated them." Ended the retelling, Dr. Dala_

_The Courier starts analyzing the objects on the table, inspecting them carefully and meticulously, from the weapons to the clothes, since every other thing that may have been useful now was a pile of burning ash, he needed to find a clue here._

_While checking a black jacket, he found a holodisk with a label that read instructions._

_"How did you guys missed this?"_

_"*Where did you get that?*" inquired O._

_"From the pocket of the jacket."_

_"*That's how does things work?!*"_

_"[###.!&**!.###] "_

_"You had pockets on your lab coats! Agh! Never mind."_

_He knew very well that trying to get them to understand something so basic was a lost cause._

_"Here, play it" Said while handing over the holodisk._

_""HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND AGAIN?!" yelled Borous."That thing may be infested with communism viruses."_

_**That's it! Fuck the deep breaths!**_

_"Fuck it! I'll use my Pip-Boy"_

_"But-"_

_"I'll take the risk!"_

_And the Courier inserted the holodisk in the Pip-Boy, ignoring the warnings of communism viruses, then he goes to the Misc. section of the computer, to read the new found documents. After some minutes of carefully reading the text, he turns around to face the Think Tanks._

_"What is a "GOAC"?"_

* * *

_"So, let's go through this one more time," Said a blond man as he adjusts his glasses._

_We cut to the scene of four men chatting in the penthouse of the Lucky 78 casino, where three of the men in question are trying to understand the fourth man's reasons for making what a lot of people would classify as a suicide trip, while the mad man who came with the idea prepares his gear._

_"Before the war started, a group of physicists, chemists, and other scientists were entrusted by the old world government and outside corporations, ranging from Vault-Tec to General Atomics, to create a machine known as the Garden Of All Creation."_

_"Huh." Responded Six, as he stashes more ammo into his old trusted backpack._

_"They reached out to RobCo asking for help, but House himself decline the offer since he was already entangled with his own project." Retails the ex-1st Recon shooter with his normal monotonous voice._

_"That's what they told me."_

_"And so out of spite, this "Doctor O" who had a huge grudge against House, convinced the rest of the big brains of the Big empty to helped the project by designing and making the operating systems and other Techno stuff for the machine." Said an old Mexican ghoul._

_"They don't like the name "Big empty", but yes, mi amigo." _

_"This "GOAC" only works when two data storage devices are connected, and a Doctor Patrician Stanley sent a highly train group of mercenaries to recover one of the storage cards from Big mountain." Continue the blond man._

_"Correct, can you pass me those grenades, please?"_

_"So now you're going to travel half a country to meet this woman, pass as one of those mercenaries, and get the GOAC, a machine that, by the way, has two main capabilities, the first one was designed by a Vault-Tec scientist and you know next to nothing of what it is..." _

_ "Yep."_

_"… And the other one is to control time."_

_"Yes."_

_"Are we forgetting something?"_

_"The GOAC was made with alien technology."_

_"This is the reason we don't let you wander alone."_

_Six knew this plan was a bad idea, but then again, when in the hell does he ever have good ideas? Besides, it's the only course of action he can take right now._

_That meeting is his only chance to get answers, Six has been calling up a few favors, and asking around his contacts to see if he could get something, anything! About this so-called Doctor and her mercenary group, but nothing came up._

_The NCR doesn't have records of a mercenary group called the Gunners, the Followers were a dead-end, merchants, tribes and other mercenaries groups he knows didn't give him anything either, and the best answer came from Arcade and the remnants, who confirmed that the technology these "Gunners" used was pre-war, or at least most of it._

_After convincing the Think Tanks that there wasn't a threat of communists spies, just regular intrudes and that there's no such thing as communism viruses (but then again, he explained this to a bunch floating brains in jars so maybe a commie virus does exist, he'll look it up in another time), they fixed and tested the strange gadgets the mercenaries used to get in._

_Some of the gadgets range from but were not limited to: a pulse emitter, a big bulky computer that someone in power armor had to carried, capable of disrupting the signals of the outside sensors and cameras (that's how they manage to sneak inside without raising any alarms), stealth boys, plasma cannons, and more!_

_The pulse emitter was almost an exact replica of the sonic emitter, but deadlier, since it looks like they implemented the design of the pulse gun, making it a one-hit kill against all robots and electronic devices. And according to Klein, the bulky computer was a design created by the old US government in their attempt of a mega computer capable of hiding their secret hideouts in the Asian Theater during the Sino-American war, but it never reached the production stage._

_The holodisk stated that all of the high-technology equipment was provided by dear Dr. Stanley, Meaning that she got (or robed) the design from a government facility and made the computer herself, to break into highly protected facilities like Big MT._

_She's hoarding technology in a way that could put the Brotherhood to shame, but why? Why is she doing this? What is her plan? Having someone with that type of knowledge and resources uncheck is just screaming for trouble. The instructions also said to meet at a settlement in the northwest outskirts of Texas called "Rojo" after the job was done. _

_If he had more time, Six would gladly take the long route of Sonora, and Chihuahua, however, it appears lady luck is being a little mean to him, and the meeting is in less than a month. After that, the Doctor will consider the Gunners dead and will continue on her merry way._

_So now he needs to cross the land of the Legion to get in time for the meeting, is crazy as fuck, and definitely suicidal, trust me I know, but I need to do this._

_"Six, come on, this is insane! You can't go."_

_"Arcade, that woman knows how to get into Big Mountain, the goddamn! Big Mountain! It's just a matter of time before she sends more people."_

_The Courier has gathered three of his closest friends, to entrust them with the important task of protecting and maintaining the order in Big MT, while he is away._

_Arcade is a brilliant man that can keep up with all the crazy shit the Think Tanks can come up with, Boone can show some spine, help keep the place in order and won't let chaos reign, and Raul is here to provide support and patience for when Arcade and Boone lose their shit._

_"What did the rest thought of this plan?" Asked the pre-war ghoul._

_"Weeeeeeell, Cass was a bit difficult at first, but she agreed that I need to do this, Veronica wished me the least painful death possible and told me she could cover Arcade at the Mormon Fort while he's gone-."_

_"I haven't agreed to anything."_

_"Shush, you will, and lastly, Lily wished me good luck and gave me some treats for the trip."_

_Of course, he also considered the help of his lady friends to help out in Big MT, but each of them are dealing with their own set of issues; Veronica, as a once a member of the Brotherhood, is in constant surveillance from the NCR, they send a troop to check on her once a week (Corporal Betsy has a field day, every time it's her turn)._

_Lily is in a delicate treatment over at Jacobstown, and the Courier doesn't want her to stop the treatment. And Cass is busy with the new and improved Cassidy Caravans (she did let Six borrow one of her new caravans for the journey, tho)._

_"You know you're probably going to die." Stated Boone._

_*sigh* "it's a possibility, yes."_

_"Then, don't go."_

_"Arcade, I don't want to go, but I have to, we both know how dangerous a person like that can be, someone must put an end to this before it starts, we have gone thru a lot, trust me, I'll be fine__."_

_(Speech check: Pass)_

_The Follower stands there in silence, trying to come up with the appropriate words for his friend._

_"... Be careful."_

_"I will."_

_"And don't drink much."_

_"I'm ... mmm ... going to miss you."_

_"You're sooo going to have a rotten liver in a couple of years."_

_And with that, Arcade gave a hug to his friend and wished him the best, not long after Raul did the same, while Boone just gave him a firm handshake._

_"Cuidate mijo."_

_"Don't die."_

_"Take care of Rex and E-ed while I'm gone." Said while packing up his last bottle of whiskey, and picking up his back bag._

_"Wait, before you go." Said Arcade. "What's the limit of things the Thing Tanks can do?_

_"Let them work on whatever they want, if you think that something is too dangerous, try changing their minds using their logic against them."_

_"Dangers such as...?"_

_"Creating a new life form or, I don't know ... blowing up the moon, you'll be fine."_

* * *

**Cass is so going to kill me when I get back.**

The sunset is near its end to give a pass to the night, the man is tired, piss, and, well, just done with all of this.

**I mean, it wasn't my fault the caravan exploded, and I lost my alcohol!**

He enters the town of Rojo looking around the place, it seems like a nice settlement, the place was founded in the middle of a desert, so surprise attacks are a big no-no, and in the far north side, there's a cliff overlooking the town, with a radio station on top of it. Of course, every town has its fair shear of no-goods rooming around in the dark.

"Hold."

A man in leather armor and a green duster, holding a Hunting rifle, approaches our Courier.

"Welcome to the free city of Rojo, state your business."

"Well, a good night to you too."

The man in question is near his forties, has brown eyes, tanned skin, and black and white hair adorns his head and beard.

"Ha, good one smart ass," said the man with a light chuckle. "Sorry about that, it's just protocol."

"Yeah, I get it, don't worry." Respond Six. "I'm a Courier, and I'm here to make a delivery."

"A bit late for that, don't you think?"

"I encountered a couple of … setbacks."

**And assholes.**

"Well, I see you came from Caesar's land, so I have some friendly warnings for you.

"Such as?"

"We are all merchants here, everybody is allowed to sell and buy whatever they want, from slaves to chems, so whatever ideology you have about our way of life, nobody wants to hear it."

"How do you know I come from the Legion's land?"

"There's nothing else from the way you came."

"Ah, okay, something else I need to know?"

"Don't cause any trouble, and you and me are going to be just fine."

"Hehehe, a bit cheesy, but I'll keep in mind"

Our dear Mojave resident brings up his Pip-Boy to read the instructions of Dr. Stanley.

"Anyway, could you point me to Dante's? Mister…"

"Lanius."

Six lifts his head from his Pip-Boy and stares incredulously at the man.

"... You're joking."

"Yeah, Yeah, I get that all the time, listen, my parents thought that if I had a Legionary's name, they would be kinder to me if they ever took control over this part of the land."

"The Legion has ever made campaigns against this place?"

"Not this place per se, but Texas in general, although they stopped after they got their collective asses kicked in Nevada."

**Good to hear.**

"I do have a second name."

**You could have started with that one.**

"Which is...?"

"Elijah."

Six stares again at the man, but this time, in a more amusing way.

"No offense, but your parents are the worse."

* * *

"And then, hahaha! The idiot starts running for his life with his pants down!"

"Hahaha! What the hell? Hahaha!

After an awkward name introduction, Elijah accepted to take Six to his destination, in the middle of the way there, they began a small talk that after a while became a happy and energetic retelling of drunk stories.

"Man, I needed that laugh so much, hahaha."

"You and me both, buddy."

"Well, here we are."

Informed the guard, as he points at a greyish colored building in the corner of the street, a ghoul on top of a ladder is cleaning the sign that reads Dante's.

"What can you tell me about this place?" Asked the Mailman.

"Well, for starters, the owner is a pitiful snake that should be behind bars."

"Someone is not a fan, huh?"

"What can I say? I know that every good merchant isn'tt exactly a "clean" person, but THIS guy would get dirt to use against you the moment you step inside his saloon."

"So why go in there at all?"

"Well, there are some nice views, if you get my meaning, hahaha, just don't tell my wife."

"I won't."

"Be careful in there, there's no one you can trust."

"So, just like any other place then."

"Hehe, you can say that." Said Elijah turns around to get to work. "Anyway, my turn doesn't end until ten, so good luck, son."

"Thanks, have a good one."

The hero of the NCR gives his thanks to the guard, however, he doesn't enter the place right away, instead, he stands there for a moment, contemplating his journey, he reaches out for his right pocket, brings out the storage card, and stares at it for a moment.

Just looking at it makes him feel odd, like, when he received a certain platinum chip, but this time he knows what's going on, who is he up against, what is the delivery, the dangers and risks, and yet the feeling doesn't disappear.

He shakes his head of those thoughts and proceeds to walk into the saloon, passing under the metal stairs the ghoul is using.

"You shouldn't have done that smoothskin." Said the ghoul. "It brings bad luck."

The Courier looks up to face the ghoul and raises his shoulders.

"Meh, I'll be fine, luck has messed with me enough."

"If you say so, smoothskin."

* * *

**About the Gunners, I wanted to use an actual mercenary group from Fallout, rather than making one up, and after some research, they were the only ones who fit the bill perfectly. By this time in the timeline, (2 and a half years since new vegas, 2 and a half years before Fallout 4) they are already kicking around, they have the training to break into a place like Big MT. and they have the resources to make a full trip to the west coast.**

**I felt like chapter one didn't have that much dialog, but it kinda reflex how the Wanderer is, an intelligent and silent person, however it did bother me a lot, so the Courier in contrast always has a snarky comment in his mind, and it's more of a talker.**

**I hope you guys like it, thanks for fallowing my story, Silver0117 and guest thaks for the review, and a special thanks to OldSchool-LeverShot for the help.**

**If you have questions, sugestions, threats of death, etc. leave a review and have good one.**


	3. Chapter 3: The preparations

**Hey guys and gals, this chapter is the calm before the storm, before the trip to remnant, so I hope you like it.**

**Quick question, how long do you guys think I should make the chapters?**

* * *

The brothers remained silent, leaving the void in a complete lack of sound, the younger of the gods, waited for his brother to respond to his last statement.

It is odd for the brothers to be this quite, they are the embodiment of light and dark, life and death, creation and destruction, ideologically speaking, it is their duty to clash (plus, they ARE family).

So the fact that both of them are coexisting in the same plane of existence, without quarreling with one another, is, in all honesty, making the creator of the Grimm feel a bit unconformable.

"You are right."

"What?" Surely he misheard that.

"I said, you are right." Repeated the god of light.

Hearing his brother say that he was right in anything was a first for the dark entity. However, it did not make him feel accomplished, nor superior to his brother (as he always assumed he would feel), instead, the feeling of nonconformity grew, after all, it is unnatural for the light to agree with the dark.

"I am right in ..."

"The humans, they have not learned a thing."

"Huh?"

"They have lived hundreds of years in Remnant, and yet, they have not changed at all, always making the same mistakes, over and over again."

"I..."*Sigh.* Understanding what his brother meant, the dark one lets out a heavy sigh. "This is their nature brother, to build they need to destroy, to destroy they need to build, is a cycle."

"The sun rises every day, and yet all days are different." The older one replied. "The cycles are always going to be the same, however, there is always something different, even if it is just a small detail, but Remnant has not changed at all since we left, maybe this is caused by our help, or maybe because of the witch, or maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe it is time for a change."

* * *

*Yawn*

"Tired already, boss? It's barely pass eight."

We cut to the scene of two men chatting in a saloon, one of the men being the bartender, who is behind the bar cleaning some glass, while the other one, the owner of the place, is next to the bar, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Well, last night, I had to do some important ''_paperwork''_ outside the town." Retells the big man. "So, I didn't have that much sleep."

"Hmm, well, that explains the bandages, and why Steven and Carl didn't show up to their shifts tonight. What happened? Did the paper gave you a lot of trouble, boss?"

The bartender is a blond man near his forties, and he's been working for Robert for at least ten years now. He's a crooked man, like most of the people here, but unlike most people, he knows which side is the best for him.

"Just a few paper cuts, nothing to worry about."

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think Steven and Carl will agree with you."

"They should have taken cover when I told them, they'll be fine, I gave them the rest of the week off."

"How thoughtful of you."

Being a businessman is no easy feat, you have to provide and maintain quality services and products that can satisfy your customers, have a somewhat good image with the public and the so-called authorities, among many other things. So when a bunch of good for nothing scoundrels, come to your town and try to take you out of business, well, they must be put in their place.

"I know that sometimes when you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, but was the issue really that important?"

"No, no it wasn't, but I wanted to have it done before today."

"A special occasion?"

"You can say that, one of our dear VIP members will come tonight, so stay in the lookup for her."

"Should I light the candles and bring out the nice dinner plates too, boss?"

"Remember to me why I haven't sewed your mouth shut?"

"I like to think that is because I bring a feeling of warmth and comfort to the saloon."

**Ha, yeah, keep thinking that.**

"By the way, sir, speaking of being in the lookup, what about him?"

The bartender motions with his head a far table near the entrance, where a lone wanderer sits, eating his meal. The man has been in the town for more than a week, and since the first day he came through the door, the bar owner knew he was something else.

Snake fancies himself a mercenary (and maybe he is), but some of his actions tell otherwise, the way he walks, sits, and even talks, shows a military background.

Robert has heard rumors of military organizations such as the Enclave and the Sisterhood (or was it Fatherhood?) of Steel on both the west coast and east coast. However, there aren't many of those types of groups running around in Texas and the surrounding areas, the Legion and other tribes have been making sure of that.

The pub owner didn't check the man's bags (company policies), but he knows the weight and forms of guns and armors, and let me tell you something, Snake is carrying enough of both to start a fucking coup d'état in here.

He is also really pale for a simple Wastelander, just considering this fact and his Pip-boy, and anybody could classify him as a Vault dweller. However, Vault dwellers tend to be a … how do I put it? Innocent? Gullible? Yes, gullible, they tend to be a bit gullible, and Snake isn't, he's someone with experience, who has had his share fair of battles.

"Keep an eye on him, he's not a threat … for now."

"Yes, boss."

He tried to recruit him, but since he declined, that means that either he is telling the truth or he's already working for someone else. If it's the former, well, that just makes him just another client, but if it's the latter, then he may become a problem later on.

Either way, he's an interesting customer, most of these fools just want some beer, food, and sex, they think there's nothing else worthwhile. A bunch of animals who can hardly think of the tomorrow, without aspirations, without a greater purpose, nothing, although, is sooo damn easy to make a profit out of their stupidity.

**People like us know that there's always something bigger out there, I'm actually going to miss him, I'm getting tired of these fools, and he was a breath of fresh air, it's been a while since someone so intriguing crossed my door.**

As Robert monologues in his mind, the front doors open, revealing a heavily armed man who enters the saloon, all of the people stopped what they were doing and turned around to stare at the man.

Obviously, a newcomer to the town, the fact that he was a stranger wasn't what attracted so many eyes, after all, this is a market town, it's common to see new faces every day. What did catch the attention were all the weapons and gear this guy is packing.

This is the Wasteland for fuck's sake, if you want to survive you're going to need some firepower at your disposal, everybody knows that, and half of the people in the bar probably own that many firearms. What they didn't do was parade them around all at once, not even Arms Merchants carry that many weapons.

Seriously, what's this guy's deal? A bunch of knives strapped all over his body, a backpack that has about thirty gun barrels coming out of it, a coat that clearly has a shit ton of guns in it, I mean at least the rest of the people tried to look civilized, this guy didn't give a Brahmin ass about it.

**Either a gun nut mercenary or an Arms Merchant who loves his job way too much. Is that a fucking golden Pip-Boy? How has nobody mugged him?- Oh, yeah, the guns.**

The newcomer ignores all eyes and walks towards the bar, he possesses tanned skin, proper of someone who has worked hard hours below the hot sun, he uses a straw cowboy hat, and strays of black hair can be seen underneath it. He reaches the bar tiredly and sits on a stool.

"Welcome to Dante's, what can I get you?" Greeted, the bartender, to his new customer.

"What's the strongest alcohol you have?"

"Right now? I have Vodka and Absinthe."

"I'll take every ounce you can give me."

The bartender brings out a shot glass, and bottle of Absinthe from under the counter, and starts purring the drink in the glass.

"Rough day?"

"Rough month."

"Heh, you and me both, buddy."

The gun nut takes the glass and drinks its containments in less than a second. The bartender, seeing what type of drinker his customer is, takes the glass off his hands and offers him the whole bottle instead.

"Thanks."

"Anytime, I'll bring you another one."

While the bartender goes to the back to get more alcohol, the mysterious stranger takes a long sip from the bottle, almost finishing the drink in one go, and lets out a low groan, the man is clearly tired from his long day. The armed man lets his forehead rest over the bar for a moment.

**Someone give this guy a coffee, seriously, I had to oversee the burial of a bunch of dead (and somewhat dead) assholes, and even I am not THAT tired.**

As the newcomer straightens on the stool, he fixes his hat and attracts Robert's attention to a small detail that the bar owner had previously overlook, a bandage on the left side of his forehead.

Now, cuts, bruises, scars, and other types of injuries are nothing uncommon, but that bandage felt out of place. It looks clean like he just put it on, however, if that's the case, then there should be some trace of blood on it. And he purposely fixed his hat to hide the bandage.

**Interesting.**

"Here you go." Said the bartender as he comes back from the back and places three bottles of vodka on the bar.

"Keep them heading my way."

"Gladly."

**Mmmh, perhaps I won't get bored after all.**

* * *

**This guy would make Lucky Harith proud. **Thought the Wanderer, as he takes the last bite of his meal.

The armed stranger attracted the attention of the vault dweller (as well as everybody else in the saloon) with his array of weapons, most sane people wouldn't carry that many guns for everyone to see, at least the Wanderer conceal them in his bags and clothing. So he's either a paranoid mercenary or just someone who doesn't give a crap.

**It seems Robert has taken an interest in him as well, he could be more subtle, the man just arrived, and Robert's eyes have been following him the whole time.**

Unlike Robert, who is probably scheming against this man already, the Wanderer just wanted to see if he could represent a problem or solution to his meeting of tonight. The ex-member of the Brotherhood has made a list of people that may become an enemy or allied if his encounter with the Doctor goes wrong (curiously enough, Robert is number one in both possible enemies and possible allies). He also made a list of innocent people who are better to avoid to not get them hurt.

Suddenly, a green light pops up from his Pip-Boy, indicating that he has a new message. Lifting his right arm and going into the data section of the Pip-Boy (Misc.), he checks the message. It came from the mothership, and it wasn't long text, it just contained four words; we need to talk.

**Oh no.**

"Is something wrong, honey?" Sharyl asked as she arrives to the table and picks up his empty plate.

"It's nothing Sharyl, I just need a smoke, could you keep an eye on my things while I go outside for a moment?"

"Sure thing Hon, but I better get a bigger tip for this." She responded with a wink.

"Thanks, Sharyl, I'll be right back."

And with that, the vault boy stands up from his seat and goes outside. The streets of the town, although not empty, began to have fewer people, street vendors started calling it a day and were picking up their stuff to either go home or hit the road, kids were already called by their parents and the only ones who are actively roaming the town are the guards.

The Wanderer walks carefully to the alleyway next to Dantes's, once there, he checks the surrounding area, and his Pip-Boy's map, to be sure he's alone.

"One Oh One here, over." Said while opening the communication link to the Mothership.

"Hello, friend, good to hear from you again." A deep voice greeted him over the transmition.

"Hey Fawkes, good to hear you too. Is everything alright? Please tell me Charon hasn't kill Butch."

"No, he has not, but the rest of the crew are starting to bet on how long will Charon's patience last."

"But, of course, they are."

His companions are a … let's say odd bunch; from ghouls and super mutants (sorry, meta humans) to vault dwellers and former slaves, they all come from different paths of life, have different ideas on how the world works and those ideas tend cause fights between them, however, they always brush it off the next day as nothing happened. They don't all like each other, but they do respect one another.

"Hehehe, although I do not defend their actions, we all need something to laugh at and relax."

"I guess you're right, so what's the problem? Are you all alright?"

"Yes, we are fine, the rest already went to their quarters, but since you did not respond to the last message, we wanted to make sure you were okay."

"We?"

*Bark, Bark* The familiar bark of his canine companion reaches his ears.

"Hey, Dogmeat!"

*Bark, Bark*

"Who's a good boy? Do you miss me?"

"The puppy has been sad since you left, so I thought that maybe hearing your voice would make him feel better."

*Bark, Bark* The happy barking continued from the animal.

Hearing Dogmeat's happy barking made him feel much better and less stressed. He loves that dog, he has an appreciation for all his companions, he trusts them with his life, and they would do the same, but Dogmeat will always have a special place in his heart, that little mud has always been there for him.

"Don't worry, you little mud, I'm fine, and I'll be back soon."

"Have you meet with the Doctor yet?"

"No, I haven't, she hasn't arrived yet."

"What happens if she does not show up?"

A question he's been asking himself the whole week, he hardly knew anything about her, no one in the town gave him answers, the name he got is most likely a false one, and the only ones who could help him are dead.

"Well, in that case, we should search for more Enclave remnants, maybe they can give us a clue about the Doctor's whereabouts."

"Mmmh, sounds like another wild goose chase."

"Heh, I guess it does, but then again, you could probably summarise most of my life with that phrase."

(Speech check: failed)

"Friend, we have talked about this, you are terrible at jokes."

"Come on! That one wasn't so bad."

"If you say so."

Our dear ex-Sentinel has never been good at talking, but can you blame the guy? He grew up in a deep hole underground, away from the world, where even there he was sort of an outcast, and only had a handful of people who care for him.

And when he finally gets out into the Wasteland, the first thing he encountered is a bunch of raiders, cannibals, and robots that wanted to kill him instead of having a conversation.

"Anyway, what's the status on the Nightkin?"

"We confirmed that the one carrying the Brahmin skull is the leader, they have established a base next to the Canadian frontier, in an old military base."

"Any settlements around?"

"Fortunately, no, but there is a traveling route near the base, some merchants and caravanners use it, if the Nightkin run out of food, they will most likely raid the caravans."

*sigh* "That's a problem."

The Nightkin are a problem, a big one, they possess the same physical strength of any super mutant (Meta humans), they possess military training, heavy weaponry, Stealth Boys, and most important of all, they are actually really intelligent.

From what he learned from the Brotherhood's database and the terminals logs of Vault 87, the reason why the FEV subjects from the Mariposa military base and other investigation centers in the West maintained their intelligence, is because the scientist used a different strain of the virus than the one used in the Capital.

Unlike the one used in Mariposa, all the strains used in the East coast (like in Vault 87), focused on making the body of the subject as strong and resilient as possible, these subjects continued to gain muscle and body mass as they age (eventually becoming Behemoths). But as they adapted to the virus, their mental state deteriorated (this is the reason why intelligent meta-humans like Fawkes are so rare in the East).

"Have you guys come up with any ideas?"

"Some, but we did not settle in any; the first idea was to blow them up with the orbital cannon."

"Let me guess, Clover?"

"Clover."

*sigh* "Keep her away from the weapons."

"Gladly, the other idea is to get them to leave the base, but ..."

"But that will only cause more troubles."

If the Nightkins leave the base, then the merchants and caravanners would be safe, but where will the Nightkin go? They'll roam the land again, bringing havoc and chaos to any poor soul they encounter. So there are only two options, either kill the Nightkin or keep them in the base.

The later would be a bit tricky since they are a secluded community, who doesn't trust outsiders, maybe Fawkes could make the first contact, and try to persuade them into buying from the merchants?

No, that's stupid, why would they buy food when they can easily kill the vendors and take their stuff? They would only be willing to trade with … someone like them.

"Fawkes, where was the last time we saw Grahm?"

"In Hodgenville, I recall he wanted to travel to the Midwest Commonwealth."

While exploring the so-called home of President Eden, they stumble across an old Mutant named Grahm, an old Merchant who has traveled the land since the destruction of the old world, he's a good person, they helped him get back to his home at West Virginia, so he owes them a favor.

"How much food do we have?"

"Enough for three months, why?"

After some moments of intense thought, the Wanderer finally came with a solution.

"Okay, here's the plan; you'll take Clover and Butch and search for Grahm, bring him to the base, then he and you will contact the Nightkin and gain their trust, after that you'll provide them with enough food and supplies to survive the winter, and Grahm will establish a tradeline with them."

"That way, they will get supplies without raiding, and will stay put in one place."

"Yes, however, it's just a temporary solution, they need mental help, if we can't help them with that, then it will be better to just ..."

"Kill them?"

"... Yes."

The Vault boy knows how difficult those words were for Fawkes. He didn't have any problems with killing his kin, he was a mutant for them, an intelligent freak (the day we met Leo, was probably one of the happiest days of his life), but killing others like him, killing others intelligent freaks? Well, that was another story.

"Friend, I- I want an opportunity, maybe I can help them, I know that their mental state will not be easy to treat, but-."

"Of course, I understand, there's a list of trusted Doctors in my room, near my desk, the ones with psychology training are highlighted in blue, they can help."

"... Thanks, friend."

"Don't mention it, I better get going, the Doctor may come in any minute now."

"Be careful."

*Bark*

"You too, One Oh One out."

And with a push of a button, the call ended, and 101 proceeded to get back into the bar. He wanted the conversation to last a while longer, this whole journey has been stressing him a lot and talking with his crew always makes him feel better, they are his friends after all.

They are the ones who decided to follow him, no matter where he went, they left their homes at DC to be with him, when they didn't have to. He remembers the day he left the Capital, when he had to leave yet another home behind, at least this time he didn't have to do it alone, and this time it was by his own choice.

The mind of the wonderer wonders (no pun intended) to his memories from the Capital, the Brotherhood, Vault 101, his home. One year after the battle at Adams Air Force Base, Lyons died in his sleep, at first no one wanted to believe it, that after all the things he had been through, that the great Elder Owyn Lyons would pass away from old age.

**Heh, I guess you really beat us on that one, didn't you, Lyons?**

No true soldier will ever think he'll die from old age, he doesn't, Cross doesn't, and of course, Lyons didn't. The Wanderer is happy for the Elder, he fought the good fight, he fought for the Brotherhood, for the Wasteland, he deserved to die in peace, saw his daughter grow up into a valorous woman, strong, intelligent, without fear of anything.

101 Remembers how that strong and courageous woman cried for her father, begging him to weak up, how he and Vargas had to take her outside the room and comfort her.

The Wanderer is happy for the Elder because he didn't saw Sarah crying, he is happy that Lyons didn't saw how the Brotherhood disgrace him, and more importantly, he is happy that a father didn't saw the death of his daughter.

Sarah took the mantle of Elder after the passing of her father and was doing pretty well, however she died in battle not long after. The Vault dweller, wasn't there when it happened, he had been abducted by the Zetans, she was his Elder, and he should have been there.

After the Lyons were gone, the Brotherhood crumble, there was one inefficient leader after another. Some wanted to honor Lyons' ideals and continue helping the people of the Wasteland, giving them food, weapons, armor, and shelter, and others wanted to stop being a charity, stop wasting men and resources on hapless Wastelanders, and start following the old ways of retrieving technology.

He wasn't the same ignorant fool that came out from a hole in the ground anymore, he knew very well that there's more than just right and wrong, and both sides had good points, but none of them wanted to admit it. After all; "_everyone is wise in their own eyes"._

The original ideals of the Brotherhood didn't had nothing to do with good or bad, no, it was about retrieving technology so that the human hubris wouldn't cause another apocalypse, it was about saving humankind from its worst enemy; itself (although, these ideals made them into a narcissism and techno-religious group).

Helping the people of the Wasteland is a noble and good deed, they are fighting the good fight, but if only one part of the population is fighting that fight, then the other part is just lying around, waiting for their problems to go away.

**You can't depend on someone else for your own survival.**

And that's exactly, what the people of the Capital were doing, they depended too much on the Brotherhood, for protection, food, water, and even shelter, they became complacent.

**But what would happen if the BoS failed to protect them, or if the BoS decided to leave the Capital, what would they do then?**

That's the reason our Wanderer helped create the Capital Wasteland Provisional Government (the CWPG). He invited representatives from each major settlement (and even some small settlements) to a meeting in Megaton in the hope of forming this coalition.

It took a whole year to finally make this idea a reality, it was growing slowly but steady, and in a couple of years they wouldn't need the Brotherhood or someone like _the Lone Wanderer_ to protect them.

**Last I heard, they finally have a steady road line of supplies, and even their own little military group, they call themselves; **_**the Good Fighters**_**, not bad Three Dog.**

In the end, they decided that it was better for both the Brotherhood and the Capital if they stopped helping people and start being what they once were. They would still give purified water to anybody who requested it, but only that.

But of course, the rift between the conservatives and the liberals continued to exist, and it didn't help that they disgrace Owyn in such a way as they did. They put him as an example of what they should never become, they call him weak, pathetic, the foolish Elder (a title that, unfortunately, have stayed until this day).

**Weak, huh?**

The Elder who safely navigated them across the United States, the Elder who defeated the Enclave, the scourge of Pittsburgh, the annihilator of Super Mutants, the Elder who saved countless lives, who decided that saving a life was more important than to fallow a codex, they dared to call such an Elder, such a man, such a soldier, a weakling? Owyn had his problems, yes, but he wasn't weak.

Unlike him, not everybody kept their emotions and opinions in check, like Kodiak, who one day, beat the crap out of a Scribe, who was dumb enough to insult Lyons in the Paladin's face.

After that little incident (and some others), the BoS knew that they needed to put some order, so they called an assembly, in there, 101 and a couple others decided to leave the Brotherhood, not because they were forced or threatened, but because they didn't want the Brotherhood to break apart, they didn't want the organization to whom they gave their sweat, tears, and blood, to fall.

The Vault Dweller, was one of the most important representatives of Lyons' ideals, he needed to leave. They even erased his name from the archives, and give all of his accomplishments to either Sarah or Lyons Pride.

*Sigh*

**At least, this time, it was my choice.**

* * *

"20."

"21."

"Fuck!"

After some small talk with the bartender, our dear Courier started doing what's, in his opinion, the best exercise for relaxing (apart from drinking, obviously), and that's gambling, a shame his not doing so well right now.

"Hahaha, what can I tell you, the house always wins."

**That's debatable.**

"Seems like Lady luck isn't at your side today."

"My thoughts exactly."

Luck is such a bad girl, she makes you suffer so much, but you yearn for her every day. These two have a troubled relationship, sometimes, she's cuddling with him, and other times, she's stepping on him.

"Another round?"

"First, I'm going to need more of this." Said Six, while shaking his last empty bottle.

"Coming right up."

As the blond man leaves the scene to get more poison for his client, said client takes a deep breath and tries to relax a little.

**Well, even Luck has left me today, come on girl! Throw me a bone or something!**

This the only moment of peace he's going to have today, because when dear old Doctor shows up, he's going to have a lot of work to do. He doesn't even know what to expect from her, maybe she is a maniac Doctor, or a clever raider boss, or the worse of all, a businesswoman.

Because of that, he doesn't have a very clear idea of what to do, at the moment the best plan he has come up with is; to meet the doctor, discover her plans, probably kill her, and get back to the Mojave in one piece. Oh! And also, get something nice for Cass (that way she won't be so mad at him for blowing up one of her newly acquired caravans) (optional).

**I also need a little present for Rexy.**

Rex was really against the idea of his owner going alone to an unknown territory, just like most of his companions (although the Courier can't blame them, he tends to discover the weirdest shits every time he travels alone).

The little canine was really upset when he left, he planned on leaving him with the others at Big Mountain, but when he refused to leave his owner's side, he took him to Freeside. The King is the only other person in which Rex feels completely at ease, and after some barking (and biting), Rex stayed with the leader of the Kings.

It was the same story with ED-E, that little ball wouldn't stop chasing him around Big Mountain until Arcade shot it with a non-lethal version of the Sonic emitter they had laying around in the facility. Of course, Six didn't know that it was the non-lethal version and proceeded to yell a bunch of profanity at Arcade while holding ED-E in his loving arms.

A lot of people have criticized him for caring so much for a robot, but he doesn't care, ED-E was the first companion he had after losing everything, the one who's always been there for him. When he found the Eyebot in Primm, it was a mess, fried circuits, bent metal, and two bullet holes, it was broken beyond repair, just like he was. Six, ended up leaving ED-E with Veronica, it can be really helpful for her.

"Here you go." Said the employee as he puts more bottles on the table.

"You and me both know that I'm going to need more than that."

*chuckle* "Since you are an experienced drinker, maybe you should take a look at all the drinks we have to offer."

"Nah, I'm okay with this bad boy."

"Well, you should reconsider, we have drinks you wouldn't get in most places."

"Really? And why is that?"

"We have our own brand of alcohol, we make classics such as tequila and wine, as well as some little concoctions we came up with, and we sell them to any nearby settlements, almost every bar in the north of Texas sells our stuff, but of course, we keep the best of the best for ourselves."

"Ooh, okay, you have my interest, what do you have in stock?"

"Well, let me think; we have, Red Dead Wine, Radscorpion Tequila, Blue Moon Vodka, Whisky Rose ..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there." Surely, he misheard that. "Whisky Rose?"

"Yes, Whisky Rose, one of our specialties, is the traditional Grain Whisky, spiced with our original formula and fermented with extract of Sacred Datura and Broc flower."

"Isn't Sacred Datura poisonous?"

"Only, if you take the whole thing, if you cut the Datura and correctly ferment its less poisonous parts with the Broc flower, it gives a sweet and sour taste to the Whisky, I have a bottle over here."

The blond man reaches out for the bottle and a shot glass from under the bar. He places the glass in front of his client and pours him the drink.

The Mojave resident takes the drink and analyses it. It has a pleasant smell, you can smell the scent of alcohol, but it doesn't eclipse the scent of the grains, and it has a pinkish coloring.

After a few moments he drinks the Whisky, confirming its sweet and sour taste, it isn't as strong as other alcohols the Courier has encounter in his journeys, but it does deliver the right amount of strength for a Whisky.

"Not bad."

Quest updated: Wild Rose; get a nice gift for Cass, so she won't kick your ass (optional), or get a gift that would piss her off, in the hope of getting a good laugh out of it (optional, not recommended).

He's using all his mental strength to contain his stupid urges and not buy a bottle. Six already has enough problems with Cass, he doesn't need more, and buying a drink named Whisky Rose (a nickname she hates, by the way) just for the laughs, is not worth it.

"Glad that someone likes it."

"Not a popular selection, eh?"

"Personally, I like it, but everybody here thinks that anything pink or something with less of 80% alcohol is a girly drink."

"Heh, they don't appreciate a good drink then."

"Agree, we haven't sold a bottle in months, the situation is soo bad that the owner wants to sell the rights of the beverage."

"Damn! That bad?"

"Yep."

"What's the name of the brand, anyway?"

"Same as the place's, Dante's." Said the employee as he gives the bottle of Whisky.

Six takes it and looks at it, it's a crystal clear bottle, that let us see the pink liquid inside, the label in the front reads: Dante's Whisky Rose.

"Dante's, huh? Is that the name of the owner, or is it a literary reference?"

"I like to think that I'm a well-educated person."

A big, large man in the corner of the bar responded, as he came closer to the duo. The guy is a massive man, with a height of almost seven feet tall and very muscular (Could give a decent fight at the Thorn), dark skin, no hair, but a prominent imposing bear.

He's wearing a scuffed white shirt that laces across the chest, with the sleeves rolled up, some grey jeans, gloves, and black boots, the guy has been looking at him for a while now, and it was starting to be a little creepy.

"You finally talked!" Exclaimed the customer a little bit too loud while raising his arms. "The owner, I presume, I was wondering when would you introduce yourself, instead of just looking menacing in the corner."

"Heh, well, it's part of the charm, the name's Robert, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, mister..."

The stranger stares at Robert both incredulously and amusingly for a moment, before looking back at the bartender.

"I swear to god that if your name is Benny, I'm going to lose it."

The two men remain silent after the third's statement, the bartender being really curious about what would happen if he says yes.

"I ... I want to say it is, just to see what happens." Starts the bartender. "But since I just cleaned the bar, I'm going to say no."

"Smart man."

Robert, not sure how to respond to that, decided to ignore the comment.

"Alright, hmm, what brings you to our lovely town? Mister…"

The newcomer thinks for a moment before answering with:

"Julius."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Yeah, I get it all the time, my parents thought that if I had a Legionary's name, they would be kinder to me."

"You come from Legion land?"

"Not from, but near Legion land, near the outskirts of their territory, so I have had some run-ins with them."

"Yeah, that's the same story with us, a good thing they stopped after they lost to the NCR at Nevada."

**Huh, so people here do know about the NCR and Nevada.**

Well, the battle for Hoover Dam occurred two years ago, it's reasonable that the news of how the all-powerful Legion lost the war and its leader, reached the surrounding areas, especially since the Romans wannabe have been doing everything in their power to maintain order in their land and have stopped targeting other settlements or tribes.

The death of Caesar and the fall of Lanius brought great misery to Arizona, as the losers ran with their tail between their legs back to their home, uncertainty filled the hearts and minds of the Legionaries.

Once they reached their land, the Legion didn't know what to do, some of them perform a sick and disturbing form of seppuku (because the normal one wasn't brutal enough), others tried to maintain the order, but how could they do that?

Caesar was the only one who could lead the Legion, Lanius tried to take his place and failed, after all, as one great wise man once said; _the Legion dies with Caesar. _Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but they'll fall, it just a matter of time.

**It is taking a lot more time than I thought it would, though.**

"I'm curious, I heard this place had so much importance because of its closeness to Legion lands, right?"

"In part, yes." Responded Robert.

"So, did you guys lost some of that cloud once the Legion stopped guarding their roads as they used to?"

That was one of the few good things they had going on for them, the reason why the Legion had so good economy, every merchant preferred to make business in Arizona because of how secure the road was (well, every male merchant at least).

But like everything else with the Legion these days, it has entered into a decline, they don't have enough men to protect their homeland anymore, much less the roads.

"Not at all, actually, quite the opposite."

**Huh?**

"Care to elaborate?"

"Well, we did have our problems at first, but all of that changed once we started supplying the Legion with food and other goods."

"Since when the Legion deals with profligates?"

"Since they have no other choice, either they deal with us, or they starve."

"How can getting some food from one settlement would save a whole nation from starvation?"

"Heh, as much as I'll like to take all the credit, is not only us, a lot of other towns are selling their crops to the Legion as well, I think Texas has never been this prosper." Admitted happily.

*chuckle* "The misery of one is the bliss of another."

As he said that, the Courier takes another bottle and takes a long sip out of it, he accidentally tips off his hat, revealing his messy dark hair and a peculiar bandage in his forehead.

**Agh! Stupid thing!**

He quickly fixes his hat on top of his head again, trying to hide the bandage. He has that thing on for two reasons; the first one is his scar.

That little gift Benny gave him has been a thorn in his ass for several reasons (not counting the fact that there were two bullets in his FRONTAL LOBE), the scar makes it easier to identify his identity, and since a lot of people wants him dead, that's not a good thing. That's why he tends to use hats, bandanas, masks, or helmets to cover his face.

The second reason for the bandage is that all the Gunners had a tattoo on their foreheads, and since he is going to pass as one of them, he needs to cover the fact that there is no tattoo on his forehead.

"And what about you?" Asked Robert. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing special, I was hitting the road one day and heard about of this place, wanted to see if you have something good to sell."

"Oh, so you're a Merchant."

"Sometimes, other times, I'm a Mercenary, others a Guard, a Courier once or twice, depends on who's paying."

"And what are you right now?"

"Right now? Well..."

After a few seconds of silence, and the Courier debating with himself, he lets out a smirk and answers:

"Right now, I'm the guy who wants to buy the rights of Dante's Whisky Rose."

(Quest update: you have choose poorly.)

* * *

**Come on, just one more hour left.**

Today has been an exhausting day for Elijah, and if someone else comes along to piss him off, he is going to shot that guy.

During the first hour of his shift, he investigated the disappearing of some merchants that came to the town a couple of days ago. They arrived in town, trying to establish some new trade lines, or at least that's what I heard, but found some opposition in the city council, and haven't been seen in two days. So, he immediately interrogated those two rats of Steven and Carl.

Robert's dogs were seen prowling the Inn where the merchants were staying before they disappeared, but when he got to talk to them, they weren't in their homes.

Both were heavily wounded and were patched up in the clinic, according to the doctor they had an accident while cleaning and maintaining their weapons (you know, because all weapon malfunctioning tends to leave you with about ten bullets wound and stab wounds).

Unfortunately, the two fuckers, as always, didn't talk, and had to leave them alone (Mayor's orders). Then, some idiot misplaced the merchants' sales permits and all the guards had to search for the damn papers for hours, later in the afternoon, a bunch of drunkards started a fight in the middle of the street, where he may or may not have used some police brutality to break them apart.

And finally, Lanius had to lock up a kid, who vandalize Dante's sign (after letting the guy finished, of course). That kid giving a piece of his mind to Robert and the chat he had with the Courier he encountered were the only moments of peace he had all day.

"Hey mate, why the long face? Our shift is nearly over."

And that peace ran away the moment he got assigned to guard the south entrance with this pain in the ass.

"Well, for starters, I'm trapped with you of all people for the next hour."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, mate."

"Fuck off, Michel."

Michel, one of the most annoying persons he has the misfortune to know, is a slender man around his twenties, red hair, freckles, and that annoying little grin in his stupid ass face.

"Come on, man, light the mood, would ya, I know that we had a rough day and that you hate me…"

"Your words, not mine"

"But I was the one who found those sales permits for you."

"I'm pretty sure you were the one who lost them in the first place."

"Hey! I'm an asshole, not an idiot."

"Again, your words."

"My point is that you don't have to be such a sour face to the people around you, especially if said people helped you."

"What do you want? A kiss on the cheek or something?"

"Heh, as much as I'll like that, a thank you would enough."

"For what?"

"Come on, mate! I helped you, is it that difficult to give me some credit?"

**Can you shut up for five seconds?! agh! ... I know he's right.**

*sigh* "Okey, you're right, you did helped me ... thank you."

"See? It wasn't that hard."

"Keep talking, and there's going to be a bullet up your ass."

"Alright, alright, I'll shut up."

And he did, for about six seconds at least.

"Ever wonder why are we here?"

"Oh, for Atom's glow! We are not having this conversation AGAIN."

"It's just a question."

"What am I, a priest?!"

"Just hear me out, it's one of life's great mysteries, why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? And-."

"Be quiet."

"I get it, I'm annoying, but-."

"I mean it, someone is coming."

"Huh?"

As both guards turn to face the road, a caravan approaches the city. Four armed men protect the wagon pulled by two Brahmin, while two other hooded figures drive the wooden vehicle.

"Are we waiting for any resupplies?" Asked Elijah.

"Not today, and not this late." The redhead responded while pulling out a schedule from his person and glancing at it. "Maybe they are lost."

As the caravan approaches them, the guards can get a better view of the hooded figures. One appeared to be just another mercenary, big guy with tanned skin, messy brown hair, and a big iron on his hip. The other one, in contrast, is tiny and slim (really slim), with its head down and the hood it's wearing, it's difficult to see more.

"Hold!" Elijah told them as they reach the gate. "Welcome to the Free City of Rojo, state your business."

"We are here to make a delivery." The hooded man on the wagon responded.

"What kind of delivery?"

"Supplies"

"We weren't expecting one today."

"It's a special one."

**Yeah, this doesn't sound fishy at all.**

"I need to see some papers."

"Of course."

The guy gets down the caravan and gives Elijah some sales permits. Elijah gives it a closer look, according to this, they are a group of merchants, they sell a variety of goods, from food to weapons, have a license to sell in the city for a year, and were contracted by ... Robert.

"An unregistered delivery for Robert."

**Just what I needed.**

"Is there a problem?"

"Any and all big deliveries must be on our list to ensure its arrival," Michel responded. "Robert, should have notified the council about this."

"Well, maybe he forgot, anyway, I have the permits, I can pass."

The older guard gives the papers another quick read.

"I'm afraid we need to inspect the wagon."

"What for?"

"Just a quick check, mate, nothing to worry about."

As the younger guard approaches the caravan, one of the armed man blocks his path.

"Please step aside."

Michel demand, but the mercenary just stood there in silence, without breaking eye contact.

"Tell your man to move." Now this time, Elijah Demand it.

"Listen, it's been a long day, we want to be done with this as much as you do, just let us pass."

"I said, tell your man, to move."

After that last sentence, silence came over the land, the only noise you could hear was the wind hitting the walls of buildings, and the coyotes howling in the distance. All of the people involved glare at each other, waiting for someone to make a move, luckily, the other hooded figure intervened.

"There is no need for this waste of time."

The voice was clearly feminine, muffled, dull, and a bit annoyed.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

"Let them check the wagon."

"But-."

The figure, now clearly a woman, raises her head and stares daggers at the man with her two distinctive eyes, one black as night, and the other one silver as ... well, silver.

"I said, let them."

"... Yes, ma'am, sorry, ma'am."

And with that, they step aside, letting Michel do his job. He gets to the back of the wagon, climbs inside, and starts opening crates and boxes to see its contents.

"What do we have?!"

"Beer, beer, beer, meat, meat, beer, meat, some metal junk, and, Oh! More beer!." Shouted back to Elijah while getting down the wagon. "Everything appears to be in order."

"Sorry for the trouble, gentlemen." Said the woman to the guards, who could see her more clearly now that she was close. The lady is using some white garments under a black cape with a hood made out of wool, and a red scarf covering her mouth.

"Don't worry, miss, enjoy your stay."

The hooded man, takes his papers, climbs the caravan, takes the reins, and continues their way inside the town.

"That was anticlimactic." Whispered Michel.

"Robert makes his own beer, why would he need more?"

"Who cares, we are tired, and they don't pay us enough for this."

"But-."

"I'll shut up and won't even make eye contact with you tomorrow if you agree with me on this one."

"Alright."

* * *

"You want to buy my drink?"

"Yes." Responded the stranger to Robert.

"Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly sell Rosy here to anybody who asks, but, why do you want it?"

Rosy has never performed very well in the market, and after some time evaluating his competitors, he decided to sell the poor little thing and direct his attention to her bigger, more popular brothers, unfortunately, none of his associated partners wanted her, she is like the ungracious daughter of a rich family, who nobody wants to wed. So, why does this guy, who's not a businessman like himself, but a mercenary, wants her?

"Why not? The girl has potential, you just need to find the right customers, and I know a caravanner who would most DEFINITELY take her in."

**You sure about that, pal?**

From a business point of view, this is a terrible investment from the visitor's part, but on the other hand, Rose would be someone else problem now, however, there is still one problem.

"As much as I want to sell her off, she's not a cheap lady, you know?"

"Name your price."

"50000 bottle caps."

*Whistle* "You weren't kidding, hmm, I'll give you 20000."

"This is not debatable."

"It isn't? Blondie over here told me how you haven't sold a bottle in months, and you were so desperate to sell the damsel that you even proposed her to the first stranger who came through the door." The newcomer replied, and the bartender looked visibly uncomfortable in his spot.

**Smartass**

"40000."

"25000"

"30000, take it or leave it."

"I'll take it." As the mercenary said this, he pulled a bag of bottle caps from his person, and put it in front of Robert.

Robert takes the bag and starts counting the wrapped rolls of bottle caps.

"You're missing 10000."

The man searches his bag and brings out, I shit you not, a fucking gold bar. Robert just stares at the guy, waiting for an explanation that never came, so he gave up.

"… Okay, I'm too tired to ask, I'll bring the papers."

But, before he could do that, one of his girls approach him.

"Hey, Boss! A bunch of guys are waiting for you in the back, say they have a delivery for you, and told me to give you this."

The girl (he didn't bother to remember her name) gave him a black card with golden letters that read; VIP.

**Finally.**

"Blondie, you know where the papers are, go get'em and conclude this transaction."

"Yes, Boss." The bartender responded as he leaves.

"Sorry for this interruption, but I need to see this delivery."

"Meh, its fine." The stranger responded while raising his shoulders. "Hey, Blondie! While you're at it, bring me more bottles!"

Robert departs from the conversation and heads out for the back of the building, goes through the door that connects the bar with the kitchens, and walks casually through the room until reaching another door that directs him to the supply room. He goes through it, and soon after, he encounters one of his employees, sitting on a box, smoking, and not doing her work.

"Robert-." *cough, cough* "What ar-" *cough* "What are you doing here?"

"Sharyl, get your act together, and get back to work."

"Chill, I was just relaxing for a bit, needed to cut some slack after finishing the room you asked for."

"Is everything ready?"

"Yep, cleaned the shit out of that room."

"Good, Oh! And by the way, did you get something from our dear friend_?_"

"Nothing." She said while getting up, tossing her cigarette to the floor, stepping on it, and heading out the room. "I'm telling you, you're wasting your time, the guy is the cleanest person in this place, you won't get dirt on him."

**We'll see about that.**

He continues his path, until reaching the final door of the building, this door connects to a back alley, where his customer is waiting. The big man opens the door, revealing a hooded figure.

"Miss Stanley, good to see you again."

"Doctor Stanley."

"My bad, sorry about that, please come in."

The doctor comes into the building, and once the door closed behind them, the petite woman takes off her hood and scarf, letting her red hair be free.

One major notable feature of the lady is how skinny she is, almost as she didn't eat at all, and then we have that breathing mask she's always wearing, covering her mouth and nose, this and her unusual eyes, gives her a creepy aura.

"I hope the men I got you were of service."

"They were sufficient, did you prepared the room with my specifications?"

"Just finished the final touches."

"Good, I'll be heading there then, thank you, Robert, for your services."

"Any time."

"Ah, almost forgot, I'm waiting for some associates, they should have arrived in town by now."

"They could, how can I identify them?"

"Search for soldiers who try to cover their past, and mercenaries armed to the teeth."

**Well, that explains a lot.**

"I think I know who you're waiting for."

"Then tell them; that the Doctor is here and don't make me wait."

"I'll send them to you imminently."

* * *

**In Fallout 4, there are no records of the Lone Wanderer in the Brotherhood terminals, they talked about Lyons and Sarah in the game, but not about our poor vault dweller, so in order to be as lore-friendly as possible, in my history, 101 decided to leave the BoS.**

**Also, I know that Fallout 76 sucks, but I included Grahm to show how both 101 and 6 have been traveling to other places and have been doing other stuff after the story of their games finished.**

**Okay, it was difficult for me to make this chapter because I didn't want to give more protagonism to either 101 or 6.**

**I want both of them to have the same amount of prominence, and I struggled a lot to achieve this, my solution was to see the events play out from the perspective of a third, and fourth party (in this case Robert and Elijah).**

**A big thanks to all of you who read my story, Guest and 2Rule179, thanks for leaving a review, I'm trying to make more proofreading to my chapters before posting, I hope to meet the standards and if I make a mistake, please tell me.**

**Have a good one.**


	4. Chapter 4: The meting (Part 1)

**I hate myself soooo much, I'm sorry for the delay, and I'm more sorry because I had to cut this chapter into two parts, but it was just to much, I should finish the next part in a couple of days or weeks (again, terrible sorry for not posting anyting in 2 months), I hope you like this and see you later.**

* * *

"And how are we going to do that?" Asked the younger brother.

"Now, that is the right question."

Until now, they only had two options; interfere and not interfere, both of which didn't work.

"Perfect, back to square one, we still do not know what to do."

"That is not entirely the case."

"Care to illuminate?"

"As we can see, doing nothing is no longer a viable choice."

"Nor is it acting."

"That is at least from our part, someone must intervene to restore balance, but that someone can not be us."

It took a few moments for the dark entity to fully understand what his brother meant.

"You better not be suggesting what I think you are suggesting."

"It is just an idea."

"To all hells with your idea!"

"There is no need for profanity."

"We are not giving control over OUR creations to one of THEM!"

"You did not care for Remnant's wellbeing, at all, just moments ago."

A great uproar and turmoil came to the void, the dark God is not happy with his brother's idea.

"If someone is going to fill Remnant with chaos and destruction that is going to be ME! Not some self-proclaimed, good for nothing God!"

The brothers are not the only ones of their kind, there are plenty of gods and goddesses, some old, some new, some good, some bad, and somewhere in between. Each one of them has their own creations, their own worlds, universes, and ideas of how to deal with them.

"As I said, brother, someone must intervene, but not us, maybe by letting a fellow God take the charge we can learn a new perspective of things."

"Yeah, because they have dealt sooooo effectively with their worlds." The younger brother responded sarcastically.

"We are not the ones to judge when we are in the same situation."

"I do not care!"

"What a surprise."

"What does that mean?!"

And thus, the debate continued.

* * *

"Now, sign here, and here, and also here."

"Are we done?"

"Almost, just one more sign here, aaaaaaand there we go! Now you're the proud owner of Whisky Rose."

"Hooray." Said the new owner while tirely lifting his fist into the air.

"Yeah, Yeah, contain your excitement," I responded with the same sarcastic tone. "Remember, we can still sell what remains of the last lot, but once that's over, you'll be the only one with the rights to sell the drink."

I reach out for a briefcase behind the bar, bring it up, open it, put the papers inside, and handle it over to the man.

"And with that, we finish this transaction, I give you the papers that verifies you as the new owner, and the secret recipe."

"Thank youuuu." The new owner takes the briefcase, opens it, takes the papers and stashes them in his coat. "You can keep the case, I don't need it."

**What a professional.**

"Alright."

I take the briefcase back and put it in his place.

"This deserves a drink, how about you put one on the house?"

"After you push me under the Deathclaw? No"

"What did I do?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe snitch me to my boss."

"Whaaaat?! I would never do such a thing."

"Does the phrase, _Blondie over here told me you haven't sold a bottle in months_, rings any bells?"

"Hey! It's your fault for talking more than you should."

**Look who's talking!**

"Says the guy who hasn't shut up since he got here."

"Hehehe, come on man, don't be so salty about it, here." The guy took the glass I was cleaning and pour me a shot of Whisky Rose. "This one is on me."

I look down on the glass, back to the newcomer, and one more time to the glass, said fuck it, and drank the thing.

"There we go, chug! Chug! Chug!"

Before the bartender could respond to the man, a wanderer approached them.

"Excuse me."

*Gulp, Gulp* "Oh! Snake, need something?"

"Just wanted to pay for the meal, and ask for a Nuka-Cola, please."

**Wait, what?**

"I thought Sharyl was attending your table."

"She was, but she excused herself, told me she had things to do and sent me with you."

**Oh, of course she has!**

Why do we even keep her around? I admit she has a decent pair and a nice ass, but apart from that, there is nothing else good about her. She misses shifts, slacks off, and has broken customers' arms three times this month.

"Take a seat, Snake, while I get the numbers."

Snake sat in agreement, next to his other customer, and left his bags rest on the floor beside him. He doesn't like that name, I know it, but the guy won't say anything until his patience runs out. I get to the kitchen window and pop out my head through it.

"Hey! Table six's bill!"

One of the Cooks passes me a piece of paper.

"Let's see, a steak and a Rum & Nuka." I read the paper while getting back to my customers. "That will be 40 bottle caps."

"And plus the Nuka-Cola?"

"Do you want another Rum & Nuka or just the Nuka?"

"Just the Nuka."

"Then 50 caps."

Snake pays me, and I pass him the soda.

"Hey, Julius, another round?"

"Of booze? Yes, of cards? I'll pass."

"Aww, come on, it was starting to be fun."

Tonight hasn't been that interesting, usually by this hour we have a couple of drunks fighting over who saw who, or a competition to see who can drink the most without passing out or throwing out, but no one seems to be in the mood tonight. As the guy who cleans the place, I guess I should be grateful, but it gets boring if nothing happens.

"Maybe for you."

"Now who's the salty one?"

"I ain't salty, I just know when to hold them and when to fold them."

**You just wasted 30000 caps with no hesitation nor further reconsideration.**

"If you say so, what about you, Snake? You gamble?"

"I prefer not to."

"Why not?"

"I want to save my money for the road."

**Pussies**

"Pfff! You guys are no fun, come on, it's your last night, humor me."

"Don't you have things to do or something?"

"Nop, you aren't that lucky." I can taste the sass leaving my mouth. "I get why you want the leave, but can't you do it in the morning? Wouldn't it be safer?"

"HA!" We turn our heads to the gun nut, who laughs. "Yeah, right, because there's such a thing as _''safety''_ out here."

**Mmmmm, okay point taken.**

"Snake, this is Julius, Julius, this is Snake."

They turn their heads and face each other.

"A pleasure."

"Howdy, is Blondie always like this?"

"Only when he gets bored."

"You two realize I have a name, right?"

"I also have a name."

"Yeah, but you never gave it to us, Snake."

"Likewise, Blondie."

**Uuhhh, someone is getting feisty.**

"Before you two continue, can I get more booze, please?"

I turn around, giving them the back, while taking more bottles from the top shelf.

"Enjoy your poison."

"With pleasure." He takes them and turns his attention to the pale man next to him. "You want one?"

"I'm fine, not much of a drinker."

"Huh." Julius raises his eyebrow. "Curious, who comes to a bar and doesn't drink?"

**The same guy who comes to a brothel and doesn't fuck.**

Snake is a _"business before pleasure"_ kind of guy, some of the girls (and boys) have tried to work their charm and offer their services, but he always rejects them politely, the guy is way too serious and prefers to be always alert of his surroundings, doesn't want to be caught with his pants down.

That's a good trait and all, but everybody needs to relax at some point, the only bad habit he indulges in is in a cigarette from time to time.

"I didn't came for the bar, this place is also an Inn, I needed a place where to stay, plus, I don't like the taste."

"Well, people don't often drink for the taste." Julius said while opening another bottle.

"So I've heard."

Julius, on the other hand, indulges too much on the alcohol and wastes his resources without a care in the world, not that I mind, he can give us all his gold bars if he wants.

"Hello gentlemen, sorry for interrupting." We turn our attention to the kitchen doors where Robert is standing.

"Hi Boss."

"Robert."

The head honcho of the place comes near us, takes a bottle and glass from the shelf, and pours himself a drink.

"Care to join?"

"No need, I'm just here to deliver a message." He takes one long sip before continuing. "The doctor is waiting."

* * *

"Soldier, report."

"The target has enter the town, Captain, over."

"Does she have it? Over"

"We aren't sure, she was accompanied by five men in a wagon."

"Where are they now?"

"In a Pub on the east side of the town, sir."

"Prepare yourselves, we are two miles away from the town, we'll get in and met you in front of the Pub, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, how are we going to get in? Sneaking in would be the optimal, considering the town defenses, but you guys aren't exactly discreet." Said a man next to the Captain. "They'll spot us in no time, we'll need a distraction."

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

* * *

We see the figure of a petite and short woman examining the room she requested from the door frame. It's a small room on the second floor of the building, four walls, one door, and no windows.

She closed the door behind her to get more privacy, on the other side of the door are two of the mercenaries she got from Robert, guarding the room. The walls are adorned with red and black checked tapestry, there are three sofas, one against each wall, and a round table in the center of the room.

"Humm." She hummed softly, although the breathing mask she's wearing made the sound almost inaudible.

She takes off one of her gloves and gets in front of the table, running two fingers over its surface, brings up her fingers, trying to find any type of dirtiness on them, wipes her hand with a tissue, and puts her glove back on.

Robert was kind enough to let her use his business room, where he makes all of his important deals with his associates and rewards the loyal ones with an ''_exclusive presentation''_ of one of his girls or boys.

"Ugh." The image of all those body fluids been poured on the couches makes her reconsiderate Robert's kindness.

Her attire is composed of black pants, some black heeled boots to make up for her height, a white long-sleeve button-up shirt, a pair of black leather gloves, a Pip-Boy attached to her right arm, and a black hooded cape.

After inspecting the rest of the room, making sure everything is up to her standards, she sits cautiously on one of the sofas, the one on the opposite side of the room, facing the door.

Seeing she has some time, may as well take care of herself. She ties back her shoulder-length copper-red hair in a messy bun to be more practical, checks the air pressure of her mask, then, takes off one of her gloves again and puts two fingers in her wrist to start monitoring her heart rate.

She does this three times, and subsequently brings out a notebook from her garments and rights down her vitals. Once she is finish, brings up her right arm, and starts using her Pip-Boy.

She got that old thing years ago, it's a Pip-Boy 3000, from the AE-series, this series is more fragile than its counter parts, but that's reasonable considering it wasn't made for field exploration, but rather for medical treatments, it was made exclusively for hospitals and other health-related institutions that requested it from RobCo.

The personal terminal can read her vitals; blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar levels, can tell her temperature, her blood type, among many other things. But, as said before, it's fragile and needs constant maintenance, otherwise, it can give wrong readings or break, that's why she also monitors her vitals manually, to ensure that it's working correctly.

The AE-series has almost all the same functions as the A-series (it was made after its image after all), but one relevant feature that was left out during its production was the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System.

**Such a shame.**

VATS was an impressive and incredible feature that Vault-Tec implemented exclusively for some of the A-series models, an advanced combat technology system that helps increment the reaction time and cognitive proses of its user, it did this by inserting four pairs of needles into the user's arm and connecting its systems directly with the nervous system.

It was an experimental system created for military purposes, after testing it in the A-series, they had a couple of setbacks, but they succeeded and started the second stage of the trial; experimenting with civilians.

They install a newer and safer version of VATS on some Pip-Boys 3000 Mark IV, and prepared a group test in Boston, however, the war came, and the test was never finished.

**As much as I would love to experiment with Vaul-Tec's systems, in retrospective, it's a good thing they removed VATS from the AE line.**

According to Vault-Tec test subjects' medical reports, 70% of the subjects were afflicted with a lot of medical problems, paralysis, loss of control of motor functions, memory loss, and strokes.

**I have a lot of problems already, don't need more.**

VATS made a real mess out of the nervous system, only a couple could adapt correctly, and even the ones who did still had problems once in a while.

*Toc, Toc.* "Ma'am, two guys want to see you."

She calmly put her glove on and puts away her notebook.

"Let them pass."

The door opens, and two male figures come in, one pale and one tan, both with the same height.

"Stop." They stop in front of the door frame. "Identify yourselves."

They exchange looks, and the pale one takes a step forward. He stands with a straight back, hands behinds his back, and speaks with a firm and strong voice.

"Michael Jerry Kellerman, First Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Enclave Company." And then proceeds to shows his dog tags.

The man is wearing black military boots, biker goggles, some leather armor, and a leather jacket. His whole person screams military, but he clearly tried (and somewhat failed) to pass as a mercenary.

"And you?"

The other man also takes a step forward to introduce himself.

"Julius McCarran, Gunner." He simply states it.

This one looks more the part, ballistic vest, big duster, and an unnecessary cowboy hat, yes, definitely a mercenary. Although, one who doesn't know the meaning of the word inconspicuous.

"Close the door and take a seat."

They do as I say, the gunner closes the door, and they sit opposing each other, letting their bags on the floor.

"And your commanders? I prefer to do business with the people in charge rather than their underlings."

She made a deal with Captain Thomson and Sargent Miller, not these two. The least they can do is show off to the meeting, and respect our agreement, most people would take this as an insult.

"We suffered heavy casualties, between them Captain Thomson, sir."

"Same here."

***sigh* What a waste of good resources.**

"My condolences, I assume you're both the new commanders of your squads then."

"That's right, Ma'am."

"Well then, first order of business, gentlemen, did you acquire your objectives?"

"Affirmative."

"Yes."

**Good, not a total waste then.**

"You can give me the devices now."

"Not so fast." Said the Gunner. "I want to discuss the details of our agreement."

"We already discussed those details, and your people agree with my terms."

"That was before you sent us to a slaughterhouse."

"Being resourceful is a great way to ensure your survival, I recommend, you learn to do so." She responded with a bit of sass while looking at him in the eyes. "Since you accomplished your mission, I will dismiss this insolence, and give you the caps we establish, no more, no less."

"I'm not asking for more caps, I want in."

**What?**

"Excuse me?"

"I recognize a big operation when I see it, and I want in on this."

**Really?**

"Aha, and why should I let you _"in"_? As you say, what do I get?"

"A resourceful gun." He said with a grin. "I have proved myself useful, and for what I can see, you just recently lost some significant manpower." He said that last bit while turning his head in the direction of the Enclave soldier.

**Someone has ambition.**

"And here I thought you Mercs just wanted money."

"Oh! We do! But we also want to be free and alive to spend that money, and I can see this little plan of yours changing a lot of things in the East."

**Not only in the East.**

"You have a point, fine, considerate yourself hired, but I warn you, I don't treat incompetents or traitors kindly."

"Wouldn't thought that you do."

"Ahem." Said the Soldier.

"My apologies, it appears we diver ourselves from the matter at hand."

I extent the palm of my hand and they give me the storage cards, one blue and one red, they both fit perfectly in the palm of my hand, where they belong.

**To think that all the power to mold the Wasteland in whatever I want is inside this little cards.**

"What's the next move?"

"For now, Soldier, rest, you'll need it, I'm going to need both of your help in the recruitment of more forces."

"Our help?"

"Yes, you see, I want to recruit more Enclave forces, you're excellent fighters that can get the job done. However, I'm afraid that the other Remnants won't accept my offer."

"And what about me?" Asked the Gunner.

"I need more resourceful guns, you can talk to some of your people, see who's interested."

Standing up from her seat, she heads towards the exit.

"This shall conclude our meeting today, talk to Robert, and get yourselves a room."

"I was hoping we could talk about the GOAC."

The Doctor's hand was about to turn the handle of the door until the words of the Remnant reached her ears, stopping her.

"Come again?"

"The Garden of All Creation." Continued the Mercenary. "I'm also quite curious about it."

She expected some questions, such as; what are the storage cards? Why were they so important? And things like that, but not about the GOAC.

"Tell me, how much do you know of the GOAC?"

"Not much, what you told us, and some records we found in the pre-war bunker."

"Pretty much the same for me." Said the tanned man. "Except that, I didn't have time to explore that hell hole for more records."

**What I told them?**

"I suppose you have earned some answers." I turn around to face them. "The GOAC was one of many projects the old-world government had designed to try and stop the inevitable."

There were many of those back in the past, from the ATLAS program in Appalachia to one of the many insane ideas of Big Mountain.

"But what does it do?"

A really interesting question with an uncanny answer.

"Essentially, terraform time and space." She answered proudly. "Mold the reality around you in whatever you want, or at least that was the main idea. It's late, we can chat more in the morning."

She turned, opened the door and step outside the room while the other two were just starting to get up from the couches.

**Things were going so good to be true.**

"Flash them."

She order and the guards obey, throwing two flash grenades into the room and closing the door. Afterward, a loud bang came from the small room, the guards open the door and enter trying to subdue the people inside.

To their credit, they are giving a fight, despite being somewhat blind and disorientated, they manage to land some hits and even tried to pull out some of their weapons from their clothes.

"Hey! You two!" She yelled at two of Robert's mercs that were standing at the end of the hallway. "Some help, please."

The mercs run towards the room, and upon seeing the fight inside, they unsheathe their cattle prods and proceed to shock the hell out of those guys, until they were on their knees, and the other two grabbed their arms and put them behind their backs.

"Funny thing, I never told anybody about the GOAC."

And why should I? The Gunners are just mercenaries who would do anything for money, and the Remnants are desperate soldiers, they didn't need to know anything, and if she was running around telling everybody that she has a weapon capable of reforming time and space, then a lot of guns would be turning her way.

"So, let's try this again, shall we?"

She crouches so that her face could be at the same height as theirs.

"What happened to your commanders?"

None spoke.

"Shock them."

The cattle prods hissed as the voltage increases, and the liars were shocked for a couple of seconds, and yet they resist to answered.

"Still won't talk, eh? Alright, I know just the thing for you two."

She brings out a small box from her person, opens it, reveling syringes, and different types of unknown vials.

"I don't have the time, nor the patience for torture, so we are moving to the next best option, a little concoction of mine, that makes you suggestible and highly responsive, a truth serum, if you wish."

She takes a syringe and a vial, closes the box, and puts it back in her garments, then sticks one syringe into a vial and fills it up.

"Now, who wants to be first?"

Unfortunately, none of them were going to be first. All of a sudden, gunshots could be heard coming from outside and the lower floor, and not long after, an explosion happened in the adjacent hallway, shaking the second floor.

The shaking makes her drop the serum, and the prisoners tried to free themselves, fortunately, her Mercs reacted in time and shock them again.

"We know you are in there, Doctor!"

**What?**

"Settle down, Miller!" Another voice came from outside.

Stepping out from the room and turning to the left, one can see the rubble in the hallway and a big hole in the wall, caused by the recent explosion.

**This can't be good.**

"Follow me."

The Mercs heard her command, picked up the prisoners from their knees, and follow her outside the room. Patrician takes out her 10mm pistol and crouches thru the small corridor until reaching the hole, there, she puts her back on the wall and carefully takes a look of the street.

In front of the building are about six armed individuals, two wearing power armor, and a couple of bodies surrounding them. She recognizes two of the individuals.

"My name is Jonathan Thomson, Captain of Thirteenth Enclave Company!" The Captain in question is an old man with white hair and wearing a white officer's uniform and hat. "We have surrounded the building! But we are only here for the woman known as Doctor Patrician Stanley! Hand her over and her belongings, and I promise you that no harm shall fall to the rest of the people inside."

"But if you try to help her or otherwise stand in our way, we will hurt you!" A man next to the Captain shouted.

This one is younger and covered in scars, one prominent scar starts in his right eye, runs through his cheek, and ends at the base of the neck. He's wearing a full set of sturdy combat armor, has a laser rifle in his hands, a -O tattooed on his forehead, and he just turned his head upwards and spotted her.

**Shit.**

"Found her!"

Patrician quickly turns her head and takes cover behind the wall.

"Doctor! This doesn't need to end in bloodshed!"

"We had a deal!"

"That was before we learned of the GOAC and what it could do! Only the Enclave, the hope of this country, can use such power!"

**Typical human hubris.**

"And you, Miller?!"

"He pays more and no offense, but I trust the word of a soldier more than a scientist."

**Fucking one eye moron.**

"Bring those two." She whispered, and her mercenaries bring the prisoners in front of the hole. "You are willing to massacre these people, but what about your men?!"

The Doctor expected to gain some time while Robert (If he didn't decide to cross her yet) armed and prepare his men, what she didn't expect was for her captives to get shot almost immediately. One in the stomach with a laser and the other in the chest with a bullet.

"I don't know what game you're playing, but those aren't our men! The squads we sent to recover the lost technology haven't reported to us in weeks!"

"You are bluffing!"

"Want a demonstration?! Fine, fire!"

They fire their weapons towards our position, the captives break free, head-butting their way into freedom and leaping aside, just in time to miss the rain of bullets that imminently kill the men who held them. They immediately attack Robert's mercs, the pale one tackles one of them, while the tan one brings out a knife and stabs the other merc in the neck.

I bring myself up, as well as my gun, and started shooting, but this so-called Julius uses the body of his fallen foe as a meat shield, throws me the corpse, and kicks the gun out of my hands.

I'm not exactly what you'll call a fighter, my body is not well suited for most physical activities, born with numerous malformations and diseases, I had to go through different medical treatments in order to live, and some of them even let my body in an even more fragile state. So it's no surprise I was almost crushed by the weight of the cadaver, pinning me against the wall.

Miss Stanley uses all her force to push the body to the side and makes a run for the stairs. If she can make it downstairs, then she may have a chance of survival, unfortunately, as she reaches the room from earlier, Julius caught her, she falls, and he pins her to the ground.

"Hel-!" Her last attempt at getting help was frustrated by the mercenary, who, with one of his hands, covers her voice and with the other one, brings her up to her feet.

They turn around just in time to watch how the alleged soldier breaks the neck of the other man. He quickly stands up and pulls out a silenced 10mm pistol.

"Wait! Truce!"

He pulls the trigger three times, but none of the bullets hits them, instead, she hears the sound of something hitting the ground behind them, apparently, someone did indeed come to her rescue.

"Truce." He reloads his gun. "Room."

The merc takes me inside the room while the soldier closes the door behind us, Julius takes his hand off my mask and pushes me into one of the sofas.

"You move you die, now, where's the GOAC?" Asked the pale man.

She stares at them defiantly, and quietly judge her situation, questions about these men must wait, right now she must find a way out. I'm unarmed, and the only things I could use as weapons are syringes, I doubt I can take on them with just that.

"Please don't make things more difficult."

She could make time, and if she's lucky, someone may appear, but the last thing she wants to do is depend on luck.

"I have an idea." The tan man said while picking something from the ground. Upon seeing the object, the doctor's eyes wided.

**No!**

I try to run towards the door, but the soldier easily grabs me and holds me tightly.

"We don't have the time nor patience for torture." Says Julius while putting the needle in my neck. "So, we are moving to the next best option."

I can feel the liquid burning my veins and my head going dizzy. I designed the serum to take effect moments after injection, so there's no way I'm going to be able to fight off the effects.

"All set, now, Doctor, do you have the GOAC?"

"Ye-Yes." I tried to fight, but it is futile.

"Where is it?"

"In t-this town." All she can do is give vague answers, trying to postpone the inevitable.

"We don't like games, Doc."

"Where did you put it?"

"In m-me."

They both look at each other and exchange confused looks before continuing with the interrogation.

"Where?"

"In me."

"In which part of your body specifically?"

"In my b-back."

They turn me around and put me against the wall, afterward they lift my shirt and cape to reveal my bare back. Silence then came over the room as my captors analyze what was in front of their eyes.

"You grafted the damn GOAC into your spine?!" I heard them say.

"Yes."

I'm turned around once more and they confront me.

"How is this even possible?" The soldier asks. "The technology was already too unstable, any type of modifications or alterations would have caused catastrophic effects."

"I found a way."

"And why would you do such mad thing?" Asks the other one.

"As you can see, there's a lot of people who would kill for this technology, by implanting this in my body, I made myself quite indispensable, if I die the GOAC enters a frenzied and destroys itself."

"Better destroyed that in the wrong hands." Julius takes out his gun and points it at my head, while pale man silently agrees.

**And who are you to decide that?**

"You would be killing us all, by entering a frenzied, the machine will be activated, and with no control, it will affect the whole town, no, the whole region."

"Liar."

"You know I'm telling the truth, if you pull that trigger every atom of this place would be reorganize chaotically, mater would be going back and forward through time, just imagine the pain of that."

He keeps the gun up for a while before finally put it down and then curses under his breath.

"Give us the storage cards."

**That's it.**

"Listen, there's a bigger problem for all of us outside, help me install the cards in the machine, and we can take care of it."

(Speech check: failed.)

"Will you backstab us afterward?"

…

"Ye-yes po-possible" The drug is still affecting her head.

"Well, then sorry, Doctor." The soldier takes the rifle from his back. "But you aren't giving us any leverage."

He raised the butt of the gun, the last thing I felt was a hit to the head, and then it was just darkness.

* * *

(Quest update: The Good, the Bad, and the Doctor. Get the fuck out of here as quickly as humanly possible, and come up with a half-decent plan with your new companion (optional).)

"Sooooo, what now, pal?" Six asks his new partner.

"Well, for starters, how long will this truce last?"

(Options: Draw weapon [attack] or talk it out.)

A fair question, we don't know crap about each other, both of us lied about who we are, and he is clearly someone dangerous (everybody who knows about the GOAC IS dangerous, but he also gives an _"I will break your neck with no hesitation"_ kind of vibe).

But almost everyone here is possible my enemy now, and I really don't need another name on that list, so, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, or at least until he turns on me (or I on him, vice versa).

"Until we get out of here, then we can negotiate something out, sounds good?"

"Good enough."

Snake crouches down and examines the lady's body, bringing out the storage cards from one of her pockets. I quickly acted and took one of the cards, causing a defensive reflex from Snake, who pointed his rifle at me.

"Relax, I'm just taking my leverage, you know how it is."

"Hmmm."

We stand up and proceed to plan our next step.

"We are outnumbered, and those guys will be crashing through the front door any minute now."

There's a lot of shit going on, and we are in the middle of the crossfire, we need to go.

"There's a back door that opens onto a back alley." Explains the presume soldier. "We can take the Doctor and scape through it."

"You think Robert would let us get away that easy? We did make a mess of his men in the corridor."

"We either hide the corpses or leave before he finds out."

Unfortunately, they don't have that much time, the Pip-Boy's yellow light was activated as they spoke. The Courier opens the door of the tiny room and investigates, a lot of noises are coming from the stairs at the end of the hallway, more people are coming.

**Aaaaah, ****damn it****.**

"We got company." Six goes for his bags and prepares four frag grenades. "Take Doc, your things, and follow my lead."

"What are your planning?"

"To bullshit my way out of here, now, do as I do."

He pulls the pin of the four grenades and runs down the hallway screaming, and tossing each grenade near a dead body, while the soldier follows suit.

"Run!"

They reach the stairs in record time and find a couple of armed men.

"Take cover!"

"What?" Was the only thing the armed mercs manage to say before Six tackled them down, the explosives blowing up moments after cause them to fall all the way down the stairs and into the main floor. This staircase ends in another corridor, on one side, we have a path to the restrooms, and on the other, a path to the bar.

"What the hell was that?!"

Robert stood in front of the five individuals with some of the town's people at his side, all armed and ready for a fight.

"An explosion, what does it look like?" Six and the rest get up from the floor. "Doc really pissed them off, so they reciprocate with more warning shots and grenades."

"Where are my men?"

"Some got shot and if they stayed upstairs, they are most likely dead."

"You two, go check." The two mercs Six tackled follow orders and go up the stairs again. "Is she alive?"

"Yeah, just a bad hit to the head, she'll survive."

Robert's mercs came down quickly from the second floor, one with a green face and on the verge of vomiting.

"Who lives?"

"No one! Is a bloody mess up there!"

"Fuck." Said Robert mad, and annoyed. "Where are the town guards when you need them?"

"Attention!" A voice shouted from the outside.

We all move to the main room, where the rest of the townsfolk are taking cover. The bar is now a warzone, windows broken, shattered glass on the floor alongside some dead bodies, and flipped tables that worked as barricades.

We take cover alongside Blondie and some others behind the bar.

"You have exactly five minutes! Before we storm out the place! Starting now, five!"

"Boss, please tell me you have a plan."

"I'm thinking."

"Well, think faster!" Screamed a blonde woman with blue eyes.

"Those assholes just gun down half of my forces and have surrounded us, we don't have many options."

"Can't we just scape through the back door or something?" Six asks.

"What part of surrounded didn't you get? Anybody who tries to go outside gets shot immediately."

**Well, shit, this is bad.**

"What about the cellar?" Snake adds. "Where does it take us?"

"How do you-?"

"I'm a bit nosy, remember? Now, where?"

"In the cellar, there's a tunnel that connects with a safe house in the center of town, I keep my big guns and explosives there, but it's a narrow path, and we are too many people, we wouldn't reach the house in time."

"Four!"

**Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.**

I lift my head, trying to see what awaits us outside, there are four Gunners and their leader, all clad in some type of combat armor and wielding assault rifles, the leader also has a grenade launcher on his back. Next to them is the leader of the Enclave troops and his two escorts, he's wearing a white uniform and carries a plasma pistol, while his escorts wear X-01 power armor and wield gatling lasers.

"We have eight hostiles in the front, how many in the back?"

"Six, two in power armor, if it wasn't for the power armor, we would have the advantage."

"Can't we just give them what they want?" commented the blue eyes woman.

"You know my policy, if there's a chance of winning we don't refuse the fight."

"But-"

"Sharyl! Either you shut to hell up and help us kill these bastards or get your ass in the kitchen and hide with the rest!"

"Alright, alright!" She reloads her handgun. "As if hiding was an option."

"Three!"

**What type of watch is this retarded using?**

"What makes you think we can win, boos?" I turn my head to hear the answer.

"They are bargaining." He states calmly. "You only bargain with someone in equal conditions, no need to do it with people you can easily kill."

Snake puts the Doctor on the floor and heads for the kitchens.

"Where are you going?"

"To the cellar." He turns to Robert. "They are wearing X-01 Beta models, that model has a bigger exhaust port in the back, give me two of your best snipers, and I'll hit them from behind."

"I'll ask later how you know that; you won't reach the safe house in time, much less come to our rescue."

(Quest update: Gain time.)

"He will." Six picks up the unconscious scientist and puts her in his shoulder. "I'll give you as much time as possible."

"They'll shoot you the moment they sense something is off."

"They won't shoot, they need Doc alive, are you going to back us up, Robert?"

"Two!"

"Fuck it! It's your funeral, Blondie, Charles, go with Snake, Maria, Dick, go to the second floor in case we need more snipers, Sharyl, I want every explosive we have set up in the back door, everyone else, get ready."

Everybody moves to their assigned positions, leaving me with Robert and an unconscious Doctor behind the bar.

"Just letting you know, if you die, I'm taking Rosy back."

"Vulture."

"I know what I am, good luck."

I stand up and walk towards the front doors, while wondering if I get off by putting myself in danger, and trying to remember every detail Arcade has ever told me of the Enclave.

"One!"

Kicking the doors, I appear in front of my adversaries, who aim their guns at me.

"Howdy."

* * *

**Hope the dialogue wasn't too much, there will be more action in the next part and we will finally reach Remnant.**

**Please leave a review or if you want send me a PM. Bye.**


	5. Chapter 4: The meting (Part 2)

**Hello again, hope you guys are doing well.**

**Right now this story has 18 favs and 27 followers, and a lot of views. I know my writing isn't the best, I know that there are better authors out there and that I still mess up with the grammar a lot, but thank you, for liking my story and for your time, thank you.**

**This chapter was a chaos to wright, it's the fist time I right a battle and I try to use the perspective of both protagonists, tell me what you think about it for future references, please.**

**Anyway, hope you like today's chapter, I'll talk to you later at the end of it.**

* * *

"Move it!"

Moving with an accelerated paste, the brown hair soldier and his two new companions open the cellar in the kitchen, revealing a dark staircase.

The trio goes down the stairs, quickly reaching the floor, and the soldier boy activates his Pip-Boy's light to illuminate their surroundings, while the bartender guides them through the basement until reaching a brick wall with a bunch of crates stacked against it.

"Help me move the boxes." Said the unnamed bartender

They all start pushing the crates, they are large in size and heavy, so the crew must use all their strength to move them.

*Agh* "Since when do we have all of this down here?"

"Charles, shut up and push."

The crates slide enough for them to find a human size hole in the wall, the entrance to the tunnel. With no time to lose the group enters the tunnel, it's like Robert said, a narrow path, they had to go one after another and sheet their weapons to fit thru.

They go as quickly as possible, Blondie is in the front of the group, our DC resident in the middle, and the other grunt in the back. It's going to take them a while before they arrive at their destination, no matter how fast they walk, and so, the former Sentinel's mind has finally a moment to think things.

Questions came one after another, and almost none with a clear answer; If the Doctor didn't tell the Enclave about the GOAC, then how do they know about it? Does anybody else know? Who are these _"Gunners"_? They are clearly a merc group, but how much do they know?

He tries to focus on the task at hand, this isn't the moment for questions, this is the moment for actions. They must hurry and take out the troopers with Power Armor, with at least two of them down they should be able to take care of the rest.

* * *

"Freeze!"

The Mojave resident obeys and stops his approach, just a few feet away from the front door. His adversaries cocked and prepared their weapons.

"Easy there, pals, we can be civilized and not resort to our baser instincts."

He gives a quick scope of the surroundings; more dead bodies litter the floor near some barrels and chairs, two caravans were abandoned in the middle of the street, one of them was flipped and on fire. However, that wasn't the only thing on fire, looking past his adversaries, past the road, some houses and other buildings, Six saw a big orange glow emanating from the other side of the town.

**So THAT'S the reason why the guards haven't show up.**

Initiating disputes, accidents, or other types of altercations it's an easy way of distracting the local authorities (a tactic he's quite fond of), the bigger the distraction, the bigger the window of opportunities and time, but once that's over, you must disappear from the scene before they start pointing fingers and asking questions.

"Hey! Stop looking around, we are over here!" Demanded the head Gunner. "Show us her face!"

The lady in question, was motionless in Six's right shoulder, being treated like a bag of potatoes, he carefully turns around for them to see the Doctor's face.

"She's alive, in case you were wondering, just unconscious."

He turns around once more and faces the enemy, who were all the way across the corpses and the wagons. They spread out, covering more ground, their leaders are in the front center, next to each of them were two mercs, and the power armor soldiers were stationed one on each side next to the foot grunts.

"Where are her things?" Asked the older man of the group.

"You mean the GOAC?"

The two leaders exchange looks, and their gazes hardened.

"That's why you're here, right?"

"Where is it?"

"Right here."

With my right hand, I keep dear Patrician in place while lifting her shirt and cape with my other hand, showing them the artifact.

* * *

However, the mind of the Wanderer, does wonder on what to do after the battle is over; let's say they win, he would need to grab Ms. Stanly and get as far away from this town as possible, before either, she recovers conciseness, or Robert figures out what's going on. He planned for a quick escape just in case, leaving a hidden caravan outside the city, and paid some guards to go and patrol somewhere else, away from that part of the perimeter.

Then there's Julius, if both of us survive the encounter and safely get away, can he trust him?

There are at least five parties who want the GOAC now (himself included), all of them dangerous (and would probably need to be silence, one way or another), but at least he knows something about the Doctor or the Enclave, he doesn't know anything about his new companion.

The Wanderer lacks information to make a judge of character, the guy did recognize the danger of what would happen if the GOAC felt into the wrong hands, but then again, maybe he just won't let anybody else take his prize. Also, the false Gunner could be working with someone else OR for someone else, and an ambush could be waiting for him once they leave the town.

**Focus.**

He'll deal with those problems when they arrive.

"Snake, what's the plan? How do we kill these bastards?" Asked the man in the front.

"As I said; their armor has a big exhaust port in the back just below the core, that's their weak point, if we manage to do some heavy damage, we'll leave them without energy and without destabilizing the core."

"What happens if we destabilize the core?" Asked the man in the back.

"Explosion." The soldier responded deadpanned.

"That doesn't sound so bad -."

"He means NUCLEAR explosion, dumbass." Answered the bartender. "Those tin cans use fusion cores for energy, they explode and in the best-case scenario, the people we are trying to save, become ghouls."

**A bit overdramatic, but close enough.**

Although the explosion and consequent radiation wouldn't be able to turn anyone into a ghoul, it would destroy part of the building and possibly kill some of their _"allies" _by accident, this includes Ms. Stanly, and by extension, everybody else in the city.

Luckily, it's almost impossible for fusion cores to destabilize, this could only happen if either; you're master of electronics and you rigged them to do so, or if you cause them enough high critical damage (like dropping a couple of nukes on them), otherwise they are perfectly safe and won't cause any nuclear detonation.

"And how much damage are we talking about?"

"Either perforation by a high caliber sniper or overheat by a blast of a powerful energy weapon, once their energy is gone, they'll still be capable of moving but at a slow pace, basically turning them into stationary turrets."

"Turrets can still decimate our asses."

"They are powerful but not indestructible, and according to Robert, you guys stash all of your heavy weaponry in this safe house, you're telling me you don't have some rockets or explosives capable of finishing the job?"

Blondie, shutted up for a moment before answering.

"We have a couple."

"Good, two of us will snipe them, while the third bombards them, any other questions?"

"No, all clear, and just in time, here we are." Informed the man in the front, who pushes a wooden plank to reveal the entrance.

* * *

They look confused for a moment until their minds process the same thought that my mind did when I first saw the woman's back.

"What the f-."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, that was my exact reaction the first time I saw it." I cut the guy off and low the doctor's clothes back in place. "It seems our dear old Doc prepared some countermeasures in case anybody tried to cross her, a bit extreme if you ask me, and I would normally call her a nut job for this, however, you DID cross her, so, yeah, not that crazy after all."

They regain their stoic demeanor and take a step forward.

"Hand her over."

"Trust me, I would love to do that, end this and get my ass out of your sight, I really do, but here's the thing." I take some steps forwards as well. "How do I know you're not just going to kill me after we give her up?"

"I gave you my word." Says the Enclave Officer. "No harm shall fall to you or anybody else inside."

"No offense, but the word of a traitor doesn't work for me."

**Okay, I'll admit, that felt pretty hypocrite coming from me.**

But it's true, the Enclave at this point is just a bunch of desperate soldiers trying to hold and enforce their old-world ways, they'll do anything to get what they want.

Getting so obsessed with the past can only lead to more of the same tragedies the old world committed.

Apart from that, I actually don't have a bad view of the Enclave or at least; not a bad view of its people, it's true that they made some horrible actions in the past, but who hasn't? The Remnants showed me they are just like the rest of us, people who lost the game and are trying to live the best way they can.

That doesn't absolve them of their crimes, no, I believe everybody should pay for the things they have done, one way or another, it's just something we should remember before passing judgment on anybody.

At least the Remnants stopped singing their song years ago, but these guys? They are still singing their old blues.

"And how about a bullet? Huh, does THAT work for you?" Threatens the one-eyed man.

"Heh, nice come back, but I don't think you could land the hit." My taunting voice and comments appear to be working, as the man sheets his assault rifle and draws his revolver.

"You wanna bet?"

"Miller!" Shouts the Officer.

"Tempting, but you won't shoot."

"And why not?"

"You may kill your paycheck." I shake the woman in my arms to emphasize my point.

*Chuckle* "I'm a good shoot."

"And I'm a fast man, let's say it's a fifty/fifty situation, do you really wanna risk it?"

(Speak check: Pass.)

The guy keeps pointing his gun at me for some time, looking at my eyes, both of us challenging one another, waiting for the other to make the first move, and he does it, silently bringing his gun down.

**That's what I thought.**

* * *

They go thru the new hole and get inside another basement, this one is smaller than the one under Dante's, but has a lot of more things; metal crates, lockers, etc.

"Alright, let's gear up, we have some heavy snipers and piercing rounds over here, grenades over there and a bunch of other stuff around there, take whatever you need."

While his two comrades took weapons and ammo from the boxes, the wanderer chooses to use a couple of his own, opens one of his bags, stashes the Hunting rifle, and brings out his Gauss rifle, some pulse grenades and Sydney's SMG.

*whistle* "Fancy weapon you got there." Said the bartender as he assembles parts of his rifle.

"I need ammo, do you have 10mm and microfusion?"

"10mm, in the locker to your left, microfusion, we only have around 25 over-charge rounds."

"Over-charge?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot, you come from the East, over-charge rounds make a bit more damage, at the cost of degrading the condition of your weapon faster than normal rounds." The older man takes a bag and tosses it to the soldier, who catches it. "Have fun."

**Huh, helpful.**

101 straps his rifle in his back, puts the sub-machine gun on the left side of his hip, makes sure his sword is in place, and prepares his ammo and grenades, while the unnamed man assembles the last part of his rifle and takes some grenades and a Sawed-off shotgun, and lastly, Charles grabs a Missile launcher.

Now with the group ready, they climb a ladder that takes them to the floor above, the first one to climb its Blondie, followed by the other two.

They appear in a small room, in almost complete darkness, the only illumination coming from the Pip-Boy, not wasting time, they move to the next room, and to the next one, and to the next one until reaching the front door, stepping out the house and encountering one the biggest fires they had ever seen.

* * *

"Then what are your terms?"

"Huh?"

"You won't give her to us until you're sure we won't attack you, so how do we convince you? What are your terms?"

**Oh shit! My terms, uhhhhhhh, terms, terms, terms, uhh ...**

"Half of your forces must go, tell them to leave, and wait for you outside the city."

"Ha! Yeah, right." The gunner raises his arms, laughs, and then turns to his fellow leader. "We don't have the time, that fire won't last forever, let's take her by force and leave."

"He has the GOAC."

They talk in a low tone, but luckily, I have a good sense of hearing (and a lot, a LOT of mechanical enhancements.) (Perception check: Pass).

"And he also has no support, he came alone, the people inside are scared, if we kill him, none of them will come to his aid."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Thomson, cut the crap, you don't care for these guys' lives, stop acting like a good samaritan, it doesn't suit you."

"Nor does it you being the voice of reason."

"True, but all I know is that if we attack right now, we'll only need to fight one person."

I give them time to talk it out and let them decide if they kill me or not before interrupting them.

"You guys know I can hear you, right?" They turn their attention back at me, with a bit of surprise plasm in their faces. "Okay, maybe I asked too much, how about this? You order the ones in the back to leave."

"That's nearly half our forces." Said the older man.

**There's 14 of them in total (four in power armor), and there are six in the back, oh, yeah, that's nearly half.**

"Then what about the ones in power armor?"

They went back to talking between themselves, and a moment later, their answer came.

"One power armor and two mercs."

(Options: Accept, draw weapon [Attack], or persuade them.)

"Two power armors and four mercs."

"One power armor and three mercs."

(Options: Accept!, draw weapons [Attack now], or keep persuading them.)

"Two power armors and three mercs."

"Oh! For fucks sake!" Said the Sargent. "One power armor and four mercs!"

(Options: Accept you fool!, draw weapons [Kill them all!], or keep talking, you mad lad.)

"Three power armors! And five mercs! That's my last offer!"

"That's more than half our forces, you ass!"

"Three power armors and four mercs?"

"THAT IS HALF!"

"And?"

"This is just getting ridiculous." Said the one eye man annoyed as he runs his hand over his face.

"I agree." The Officer walks a bit further. "This is your last chance for a peaceful resolution."

"Uhhh..."

At my hesitation, they all raise their weapons one more time. As I try to come up with a convincing answer, I manage to see movement behind my enemies.

**It's about damn time.**

"Welp, I don't think neither of us has that option anymore."

As these last words settled in, the soldiers in power armor where hit in the back. I jump and take cover behind some barrels as all hell broke loose.

Bullets and lasers started coming from both sides, and I was in the middle of it all. I let the Doctor on the floor beside me, as I bring out my Ranger Sequoia and my Mysterious Magnum, I raise my head from cover, just in time to see a flying power armor, soaring thru the sky and crash-landing inside the building.

* * *

"Eat rockets motherfuckers!"

Shouted Charles, as he fired two rockets towards the trooper in the north side of the squad, sending him flying. While the merc next to him was hit by the wave of the explosion and felt into the ground.

Blondie and I concentrate our fire on the other trooper wearing power armor as Charles reloads his rocket launcher. However, our fire isn't enough to keep the soldier at bay; it turns around and starts firing its gun at us, we quickly take cover; Charles and Blondie behind a caravan, and I behind some crates.

* * *

The flying power armor went thru one of the windows on the first floor, bringing part of the wall down with himself.

I fire my guns at my enemies, who took cover behind the two caravans, but I can hardly take a quick look without getting shoot by the crossfire.

**What was I thinking?!**

This isn't a good situation for me, AT ALL, if I don't move, I die. Searching chaotically thru my stuff, I find my salvation.

The Courier throws five smoke grenades, two got shot in the air, blinding the snipers on the second floor of the building (sorry about that), and the other three landed near the caravans. As the smoke came to the battlefield, some brave idiotic bastards left their cover at the bar and ran towards the enemy.

Most of them got shot, of course, but they gave me enough time to take the doctor and move from my position. Unfortunately, as soon as I started running to get inside the bar, the mercs and Enclave forces from the back came running thru an alleyway next to Dante's.

"The Doctor!" One of them shouts.

**Fuck!**

* * *

The smoke distracts and blinds the trooper for enough time for me to throw two pulse grenades at his feet and immobilize it.

"Now!"

Charles gets up and fires two rockets, one was a direct hit, sending the trooper down and crashing into the burning caravan, while the other rocket missed by a few feet, blowing up one of the mercs instead, sending body parts and gore into the air.

"The ones cover in metal! You idiot!" Blondie shouted.

"This shit has a big ass recoil! The fact that the second rocket was off by only a few feet, it's a more than just fucking a miracle!"

We try to keep firing our weapons, but as the smoke got bigger, our targets nearly despaired from our sight.

Suddenly, thru my scope, I saw someone carrying someone else in their arms, jumping over the burning wagon. The reason for this action was a group of enemies coming from the left side of the building, who were now heading towards the smoke, in pursuit of the fleeing duo.

**Oh no.**

"There's are three more mercs and a power armor coming from the left side! Take care of them!"

I informed my allies and gave a couple of pulse grenades to blondie as I proceed to leap over my cover and run towards the smoke.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

* * *

My fall was graceless and painful, falling in my back so that the Doctor wouldn't be hurt, she was now on top of me. I move her, and we take cover as fast as possible in enemy lines, next to a fallen soldier.

Or at least that was I thought, as the presume dead wearing power armor, was now regaining consciousness. Luckily, the helmet had lost a lens, so I shoved my magnum through the hole and pulled the trigger until the pistol ran out of bullets.

"Where is he?!"

The same question appears to be coming from every direction, I can hardly look past the smoke. I can only see shadows and hear gunshots, not sure of where my enemies are.

"Wh-what?"

I hear a weak and distorted voice next to me, we both turn our heads to meet our eyes, Miss Stanley is now awake.

"You fu-!"

I try to cover her voice in time, but the damage is done.

"There you are!"

The one eye man finds them and throws me a hatchet, Six leaps aside with the woman in his arms, just in time to miss the blade. Patrician breaks free of his arms, but another Gunner grabs her and punches her in the stomach.

Before he can stand up and act, a third merc comes and kicks him back to the ground and then shoots the Courier in the abdomen. It does hurt, but it doesn't kill him, thanks to Joshua's armor, so he pulls his Ranger Sequoia and shoots him back.

Activating VATS, I feel how time stops around me, and I carefully pick my three next shoots, two go to the merc's head, and the other one to Miller's arm. Time resumes, and all the shots hit their marks.

* * *

Running and shooting my SMG, I reach the smoke and ignore all the chaos around me, until reaching my destination and finding the duo being attacked by four gunners.

The Wanderer shoots the leader from behind, then Julius kills one of them and also shoots the leader, the other two react and try to fight back, one got shot in the head, courtesy of a sniper, while the one holding the Doctor gets a hatchet in the legs from Julius.

Before I could do more, a bunch of plasma was now corroding and burning parts of my clothes and skin, not long after I was tackled by an old soldier.

* * *

*panting* **Breathe** *panting* **Breathe** *panting*

I don't know what is happening; my head is spinning, I can hardly breathe, and I'm fighting the urge of vomiting my insides. I'm on the ground, in the street? There's fire, smoke, and the sound of bullets all around me.

I look around and see bodies on the floor and people fighting each other, yes, now I remember, Miller, Thomsom, the other two. More people are coming, I can hear them, I try to scape crawling in the ground.

All of a sudden, a grenade falls in front of me, I shield myself with my arms, close my eyes and wait for the worst, the thing detonates, but all I could feel was just my ears tingling, caused by the strange sound that came from the explosive.

It wasn't a lethal grenade; it was a pulse grenade.

"Activating the GOAC."

The robotic voice came from Patrician's Pip-Boy and made all the people around her stop their fighting.

**Nonononono!**

She uses her Pip-Boy and tries to stop the inevitable.

[Deactivate]

[Request failed]

[Fail safe code: 131016]

[Code failed]

[Redirect energy to the outer core]

…

[Request accepted]

[GOAC is now running at 60% of its max capacity, still active, have a good day.]

"Oh! You son of a b-!"

* * *

In the year 2283, in the Free City of Rojo, near the outskirts of Texas, a big ball of light consumed part of the east side of the city and its surrounding area. So big, and so bright, that the Legion patrols and nearby settlements saw it, and once was over, what was left was a bunch of different things in a crater; some found gold, others water, and others grotesque amalgamations of different things and what use to be living things.

Some of them were still alive, they didn't have any type of mouth, but if they had, they would most likely scream in pain. Don't worry, they didn't suffer for very long, fortunately for them, the other town residents had mercy and kill them.

No one knows what occurred that night, but as one chapter of the Wasteland closes, another of a different place opens.

* * *

"What is that?"

The younger brother asks as some forms of light emerge in the void, the space between realities.

"Mmh, mortals, trying to breach the gap and jump between realms."

This tends to happen from time to time, either by accident or purposely a mortal tries to reach the plane of the Gods. It's nearly impossible, and even when they do it, the God of that realm may not be too happy that someone has entered its domain.

That is, of course, if they entered it alive, there are plenty of ways for mortals to die; if they land in the core of a planet or no planet at all, maybe in the deep of space, near some asteroids, in a world not suited for them, where they'll lack any type of resources to live, food, water, light, air, etc.

Mortal ones are really fragile, and they need to learn that before trying to ascend to a higher plane.

"To whom you think they belong?"

"Let's see."

They extend their palms, and a certain world came to view.

"Interesting place, but who made it?" Asks the older brother.

"I see some influence of the old ones, maybe one of them?"

"No, this world has been influenced by different forces, it may be a world of creatio absque interventu."

Or a world created without intervention of the Gods. Life always finds a way, and when these kinds of worlds are formed, they withdraw the power of creation from other greater forces in order to succeed.

"It appears they are going to succeed in their jump." Said the dark entity. "Anyway, I'm killing them."

"Wait!"

"If I'm not the one who interacts and destroys my own creations, neither will them!"

"Exactly, interact, intervene."

"What?"

"Neither us nor other Gods should intervene with Remnant, but what about mortals?"

The dark God stays silent for a moment.

"... An interesting idea brother, I'll give you that, but what could these mortals do to change Remnant?"

"I don't know, nobody knows, shall we see?"

This idea was really bad, random and chaotically, and would most likely fail, but something this chaotically is always so fun to see.

"Fine, this may be more amusing than our talks."

"We should give them a little message before they arrive." Said the older brother, referring to the mortals. "I just hope we don't get in any trouble with the other Gods."

"Well, there aren't any laws about mortals intervening with other mortals, are they?"

"No, I guess not."

* * *

Without the storage cards providing the necessary systems for the safe activation of the GOAC, nobody knew what to expect from the machine.

Would it destroy their atoms? Causing one of the biggest nuclear explosions since the end of the old world, or maybe it would mess with time itself, making them older and older until they were just bones and dust. One thing was for sure, it was going to hurt.

Oh! And it hurt indeed! Their bodies, their masses went from one place to another, merging with one another, they grew older and then got younger, they grew older and then got younger, it was an endless cycle of pain.

And the worst part was yet to come; the black void. They couldn't see anything, they couldn't feel anything, and yet somehow that was more disturbing than all the pain they endured. Fortunately for them, they were able to lose consciousness while being judged by two immortal entities.

Once they regain their consciousness, their situation wasn't any better. They woke up in the middle of a forest at night. Then they proceed to vomit their entire lunch along with some blood, both Six and One Oh One are shaking, their bodies feeling hot and cold at the same time.

After a couple of failed attempts, they manage to get back up on their feet.

**A forest?**

Thought the Courier.

**Harold?**

Asked the Wanderer.

The DC resident puts his goggles on and activates the night vision to get a better view, but the only thing he gets is a hit from a sledgehammer, courtesy of a Gunner, while the messenger gets stabbed by the combat knife of another merc.

As the hammer broke bones in the chest and the knife puncture organs in the stomach, their survival instincts kick in; both tackle their enemies and proceed to make them pay. Six tears out the neck of the man with his own hands, letting him bleed to death, and One Oh One burst the eyes of his adversary with his thumbs and then punches him until he stops moving.

With their enemies dead, they get off of the corpses and craw way from them. The two end up lying close to each other, looking at the skies. They no longer have the strength, they are at the mercy of whatever lives in that forest, it is not like it matters, they couldn't do anything anyway.

A shattered moon leans over them, and as that new image settles in their head, something in their brains clicks; they open the communication links in their respective Pip-Boys and scream.

"Who gave Clover control over the weapons?!"

"Damn it, Arcade! You had ONE job!"

After that, they fell unconscious again.

* * *

**A couple of questions I wanted to talk about:**

**"Is Earth another "experiment" of the brothers but left after the nukes fell?" No, It isn't, but you are right, Earth has the same animals and plants as Remnant (or most of them at least), but this is because of the influence of multiple forces (maybe even influence from our two brothers.)**

**"What gear are the Courier and the Wanderer using?" Someone asked me this in a PM, I been trying to describe their attires and I may have confused some of you, they aren't wearing any "made up clothes", here's a list of their attires:**

**Wanderer:**

**\- Wanderer's leather armor**

**\- The Peepers (biker goggles)**

**\- Tunnel snakes jacket**

**Courier:**

**\- Joshua Graham's armor**

**\- Rattan cowboy hat**

**\- Pimp-Boy 3 Billion**

**\- A brown duster (something like the Sheriff's duster)**

**Both their attire and weapons are going to expand in the near future, so any recommendations or further questions are welcome.**

**I'll also be using some of the cut content from both games and maybe some gear from other games (remember that both 6 and 101 have been traveling to different places.)**


End file.
